Pak-Afghan female MPs caucus proposed

Islamabad :Pakistani and Afghan women parliamentarians should have a caucus to work on issues of bilateral significance and build linkages through positive interactions and collaborations.

This was the consensus at an inception event organised here by the Centre for Research and Security Studies.

The participants included Senator Rubina Khalid and MNAs Mehnaz Akber Aziz, Nafisa Shah, Shaheen Saifullah, Shandana Gulzar, Uzma Riaz Jadoon and Zille Huma.

The participants stressed on building cooperation in the sectors of health, education, financial inclusivity, employment, COVID-19, border trade, refugees, maternal health, and youth engagement.

They urged that the proposed caucus should comprise representatives from both the National Assembly and the Senate. In order to maintain the historical record, it would be ideal to include parliamentarians who were present in the previous Af-Pak caucus and friendship groups. They also suggested nominating a caucus chair in the Parliament House so that it can work directly under the Parliament. Finally, the inception meeting agreed on formulating the agenda for the caucus in a subsequent moot, and to finalise it in collaboration with female Afghan law-making counterparts.

A similar strategic side-line meeting headed by Afghan Member Parliament Shinkai Karokhail was recently held in Kabul.

The idea for forming the caucus emerged from CRSS’ bilateral meetings as part of its Pakistan-Afghanistan Track 1.5/II dialogue “Beyond Boundaries” to bring women parliamentarians on both sides to strengthen the people-to-people relationship and mitigate the wide trust deficit prevailing among the two countries.