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Thursday March 28, 2024

Naval chief calls for more maritime job opportunities for women

By Our Correspondent
September 27, 2019

The Pakistan Navy observed World Maritime Day (WMD) 2019 on Thursday in coordination with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

World Maritime Day is observed internationally during the last week of September every year under the auspices of the IMO. The theme adopted by the IMO for this year’s World Maritime Day was ‘Empowering Women in Maritime Community’ aimed at creating environment and developing career opportunities for women in the maritime domain.

According to a press release issued by the director general Public Relations (Navy), in his message on World Maritime Day, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi said that with renewed impetus on the maritime sector following the development of the CPEC, maritime activities in Pakistan were bound to increase manifold.

Therefore, building capacities to capitalise on the economic opportunities offered by the maritime sector, especially the participation of women constituting about half of our population, is considered vital for accruing benefits offered by our maritime potential. There is a need to create environment and career development opportunities for women in maritime administration, ports and maritime training institutions which has become a fundamental imperative for long-term development.

The press release stated that events like World Maritime Day played an important role in enhancing maritime awareness in the country. On the occasion of WMD-2019, the Pakistan Navy undertook a range of activities to underscore the importance of the maritime sector with special emphasis on the contribution of women in this field in line with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

A colourful maritime gala at the Pakistan Maritime Museum, a seminar on the topic of ‘Empowering Women in Maritime Community’ by the National Institute of Maritime Affairs (NIMA) and a harbour cleaning activity were organised in Karachi to raise awareness of the protection of the marine environment.

The press release stated that the officers of the Pakistan Navy also delivered lectures at Bahria University and Kinnaird College Lahore about the significance of the maritime sector and opportunities available for women in maritime domain. A tree plantation campaign titled “One Child-One Tree” was also carried out by students of Bahria Model College Gwadar. Other activities held in various Pakistan Navy’s units/establishments and Pakistan Navy’s administered schools and colleges, including beach-cleaning campaigns, awareness lectures, prize essay and water sports competitions, talk shows and social media campaigns on significance of the day.