KP govt unveils Women Empowerment Policy Framework

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Monday announced Women Empowerment Policy Framework aiming to ensure social, economic, legal and political empowerment of women in the province.
Chief Minister Pervez Khattak unveiled the policy here at the Chief Minister’s House.The policy framework was formulated by Provincial Commission on Status of Women (PCSW) in collaboration with the Social Welfare Department.
Speaking as chief guest at the launching ceremony, the chief minister announced to give autonomy to the PCSW to enable it to implement the policy in a smooth and independent manner.
Unlike Punjab where PCSW is an autonomous body, the PCSW Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is working under the Social Welfare Department.The chief minister said there were no constraints about the allocation of funds for social welfare and women empowerment plans. He said the financial allocations already made for schemes would not be utilised for any other purpose.
He assured support on part of the provincial government for not only protecting the rights of women but also empowering them.He said there was no gender discrimination in the Islamic and constitutional provisions but unfortunately the people in the country had been deprived of such environment wherein men and women enjoyed equal rights.
Pervez Khattak said all women MPAs of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, irrespective of their political affiliation, were being given due share in development schemes. He added the provincial government was facing no shortage of financial resources for this purpose.
He said his government was concentrating on bringing reforms in various departments and enacting laws for autonomy and empowerment of public service institutions through an efficient and transparent system.Talking about the reforms, legislation and policies introduced by the provincial government, he said the monitoring and checks and balances measures taken in several departments helped improve governance. He said it reduced the crime rate and level of corruption.
He said certain opposition members were trying to oppose these efforts for a change. “We will not get discouraged by such elements and never allow violation of law, merit or system at any cost.”
Special Assistant to chief minister on social welfare and women empowerment Dr Mehr Taj Roghani also addressed the ceremony.Chairperson of PCSW Neelam Toru highlighted prominent features and implementation mechanism of the policy.
The function was also attended by female members of the provincial assembly, members of PCSW, civil society activists, provincial general secretary of PTI Khalid Masood, some UN delegates and officials of Social Welfare Department.