Educating young people on life skills stressed

MOOT ON PSYCHOLOGY OF GENDER IN PERSPECTIVE

Islamabad

Educating young people on life skills and preventing child marriages improve education, health and job opportunities, and reduces the likelihood of exposure to violence or abuse.

This was stated by the Ambassador of Denmark to Pakistan Ole Thonke, who was the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of the 6th International Conference on Psychology of Gender in Perspective: Issues and Challenges held at Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU).

The conference was organised by Oxfam Pakistan in collaboration with the National Institute of Psychology, QAU with support from the Government of Denmark.

Speaking on the occasion, Ole Thonke highlighted that educating the youth on life skills was critical to young people’s ability to make healthy and informed decisions. It also helped prevent school dropout and violence among young people. Ambassador Thonke made a special emphasis on the challenges of child marriages, which he said posed major health risks for both the mother and the child and was also detrimental to gender equality and women empowerment. He stated that both financial and social vulnerability led many young girls towards isolation and lack of decision-making power in the household, which made them more vulnerable to domestic and sexual violence and other kinds of abuse.

Ambassador Thonke concluded that such lack of female empowerment was not only unfair, but is also a huge loss of opportunity. “Pakistan is missing out on the talent and productivity of half its population, holding back economic growth and opportunity for society. A brighter future for Pakistan is only possible when the country is able to harness the skills, talent and productivity of all its people — every woman and man, girl and boy in Pakistan. For this, everyone has a role to play”, concluded the Ambassador.

The Ambassador of Denmark was joined by Minister of State for Capital Administration and Development Division Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, Country Director, Oxfam in Pakistan Muhammad Qazilbash and Vice Chancellor, Quaid-i-Azam University Dr. Javed Ashraf at the inaugural ceremony.

Tariq Fazal Chaudhry admired the role of academia in life-long learning and development, positive community engagement, and developing leadership skills. He aspired for same outcomes of the conference to propose suggestions to government in gender-based policy decision making.

The conference was well attended by renowned psychologists, social scientists and students from all over Pakistan and from various participating countries. Speaking on the occasion, Country Director, Oxfam Mohammad Qazilbash reiterated Oxfam’s vision for a violence-free society where everyone, especially youth and women are valued and treated equally, are able to influence the decisions that affect their lives, and can assume their responsibilities as active citizens. “Oxfam continues to place highest priority on investing in young people of Pakistan to enable this large segment of population to be aware of, claim and adhere to its reproductive health rights. It is our shared responsibility to address gender disparities in the country and address issues that affect our young people and women alike.”

Prof. Dr. Anila Kamal, Director, National Institute of Pyschology, in her welcome address highlighted that the aim of the conference is to focus on psychosocial and cultural context of gender. Dr. Anila also acknowledged Oxfam’s partnership and patronage for organizing the conference.

Themes of conference included social change and gender roles, close relationships and marriage, sexuality, health and well-being, physical and reproductive health, trauma, violence, and vulnerability, decision making, leadership and activism, race and ethnicity. The conference highlighted the issues and challenges in the field of psychology of gender by taking into account both theory and action in national and international contexts.