British officials advocate enforcement of women rights

SUKKUR: Jessica Achilles, Second Secretary of the British Social Development Programme, along with Mona Shamusuddin, British Deputy Head of Mission, visited the office of the Nari Foundation, Sukkur.

Talking to newsmen, they said they had observed lack of enforcement of legislation related to women rights and called upon the NGOs to advocate the government to ensure enforcement.They visited several non formal schools in Khairpur run by Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), UKAID. Qalandar Bakhash, Head of Department of Education, HANDS, said that they were supporting 300 non-formal schools in Karachi, Shahdadkot and Khairpur districts with the help of FCDO. He said they were helping 7,000 out-of-school children to complete primary education free of charge. He pledged to enroll even larger number of children and help them accomplish education up to the tenth grade in the new academic year.During the visit to schools, the British delegation also took tests of English, mathematics and other subjects from children. Shamsuddin said the schools funded by their project have become result-oriented. Similarly, the UKAID supports HANDS working in schools of the far-flung areas to guide the children to adapt hygienic practices, she added. Jessica Achilles said that the FCDO is not only focused on education and health but also working on different other projects and expressed the hope to strengthen cooperation with Pakistan. On the occasion, children performed various extracurricular activities.