Govt to take more steps to eliminate gender-based violence: minister

LAHORE : The Sub-Working Group on Gender-Based Violence will prepare recommendations and the Punjab government would take more steps to eliminate gender-based violence.

This was stated by Social Welfare and Bait-ul-Mal Provincial Minister Syed Yawar Abbas Bukhari while chairing the first meeting of the Sub-Working Group on Gender-Based Violence held at the office of Social Welfare Department Director General.

Director Programmes UNICEF Punjab Willboard, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Chief Liena Moussa, Director Programmes Social Welfare Irfan Gondal, representatives from Integrated Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health Programme (IRMNCH), UN-WOMEN, WHO, other government departments and members from NGOs were also present in the meeting.

The minister while welcoming the participants pointed out that gender-based violence was a big issue in the third world particularly in Pakistan which rose due to multiple factors. “In the wake of COVID-19 all stakeholders should enhance their vigilance for better results”, said the minister. He said more initiatives were required to protect women, children and transgender people from violence.

The purpose of the constitution of the group is to develop coordination among all stakeholders to curb gender-based violence in the wake of COVID-19

The main agenda of the meeting was to revisit the terms of references (TORs) of the group and addition of new members for betterment on this issue. The representatives from Punjab Women Protection Authority briefed the meeting about the various initiatives launched by the authority.