Govt urged to adopt women empowerment programmes

Islamabad

Speakers urged the government to adopt programmes designed for women’s empowerment in Pakistan for the beneficiaries of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).

The suggestion was made in Women’s Empowerment Conference organised at BISP Secretariat on Wednesday. For this purpose, they said that the BISP should coordinate with those organisations, which are already undertaking such projects. The women empowerment conference was organised by BISP to deliberate upon how BISP beneficiaries could be best empowered.

The conference focused on learning from the views and feedback of the participants and the special programmes which are being designed for women empowerment in Pakistan or around the world, which can be replicated here.

The ideas of demand driven solutions to the problems of beneficiaries and financial independence of women from their male family members were also discussed at the conference. The discussion on these ideas highlighted the role of BISP Beneficiary Committees (BBCs). It was highlighted that the feedback of women included in BBCs would help to design projects which can address their issues related to education, health and finances.

The conference was attended by the members of parliament, diplomats, representatives of World Bank, DFID, ADB, USAID,WFP, CIDA, TIKA, KOICA, JICA, Mera Chand Welfare Trust, National Commission on Status of Women, Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, government organizations, Bedari Organisation, different NGOs, media houses, academia, civil society and a large number of BISP woman beneficiaries. National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq was the chief guest on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, the speaker said that women empowerment is critical to nation building. He said that the women have equal role in the progress of the country and we must put in all-out efforts to adopt measures for empowering our women. He added that the platform provided by BISP will assist all the stakeholders to work in unison for this cause. He assured the full support of National Assembly in the legal empowerment of women.

Addressing the participants, Minister of State and Chairperson BISP MNA Marvi Memon said that BISP aims to empower women, giving them dignity and meaning to their lives as envisioned by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. She added that the contribution of BISP towards woman beneficiaries is beyond financial assistance, empowering them to exercise their political, social and financial rights.