Training & consultative workshop ends: Pledge made to include gender in economic uplift, policymaking

PESHAWAR: A three-day training and consultative workshop concluded here on Sunday with a pledge to include gender in economic development and policy-making.

The event was organised by the Governance and Policy Project (GPP), Planning and Development Department (P & DD), Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, from Friday to Sunday. As many as 43 participants from civil service and other officers of the line departments and delegation from Balochistan attended the training. P&DD Chief Economist Nauman Afridi and GPP DG Zahir in his opening remarks said that the KP Government had included women development as priority in the next provincial budget.

They said the government’s attention could be gauged from the fact that a separate unit of gender development has been established in the P&DD with the posting of a senior woman officer there. Speaking at the concluding event, P&DD Special Secretary Amir Tareen said women development play a key role in the uplift of the economy of the individual household in general and country economy in particular. Other notable contributions came from Ombudsperson KP for Protection of Women Against Harassment at the Workplaces Rukshanda Naz and P&D Chief of Gender Cell Fazeelat Jehan.

The Day-I was dedicated to awareness and sensitization on gender-related terminologies and concepts. A policy analysis of Sustainable Development Goal-5 on gender empowerment was presented and discussed with the participants as well. The project cycle analysis was discussed from the gender lens. The Day-II revolved around gender audit and protection of women at the workplaces. The Day-III provided participants with an overview of government planning processes and the new PC-1. A special focus was laid on incorporating gender-disaggregated data in planning documents. The hands-on experience was provided to the participants in developing concept notes and translating those into PC-1s. Five groups developed concepts in agriculture, water supply and sanitation, industry, education, and livelihood.

These concept notes will be formally presented to the KP additional chief secretary and included in next year’s Public Sector Development Programme. The participants believed the training was helpful to them in changing their perspective to some extent. The training facilitators included Dr Javed Iqbal, Shabana Gul, Waqar Ahmad from IMSciences in Peshawar, Samar Nadeem and Dr Sarfaraz Khan from Quaid-e-Azam University.