WPC, UN Women signs MoU for women’s empowerment

Islamabad : Women Parliamentary Caucus (WPC) and UN Women on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at advancing women’s empowerment and gender equality across the country

Both parties agreed that issue of child marriage needs a strong focus and efforts at all levels, both the entities stressed the most urgent need for consolidated and concerted action to curb child marriages from all parts of Pakistan through advocacy, awareness-raising and legislative reforms.

The MoU was signed by MNA and Secretary WPC Munazza Hassan and Country Representative UN Women Pakistan Jamshed Kazi in a meeting organized at the Natioal Assembly. Under this partnership, WPC will support the mandate of UN Women to attain broad-based consensus amongst all women parliamentarians for the socio-economic and political development of Pakistani women, and to enable women parliamentarians to work beyond and above party lines for advancing the women empowerment and gender equality agenda.

UN Women will specifically support WPC in the development and implementation of a Strategic Plan, organizing learning and networking initiatives, commemorating national and international occasions with the objective to raise awareness on women’s issues and rights, and holding dialogues with male parliamentarians and other stakeholders on issues related to gender equality, including advocating for pro-women legislations.

Speaking on this occasion, Secretary WPC Munazza Hassan said that child marriages issue lies at the core of efforts WPC has been doing to improve condition of women and girls. “We will tap in each parliamentarian, male and female, to listen to their concerns around child marriages bill and address them.