Canadian HC welcomes establishment of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

Islamabad

High Commissioner for Canada Heather Cruden on Thursday welcomed the establishment of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and hoped that it would receive the resources necessary to fulfill its obligations. 

She was talking to media at an interaction organised by the Canadian High Commission.

Cruden said that Canada is keen to assist Pakistan in commercial sector. “We actively encourage Canadian technology and service firms to invest in Pakistan’s extraction sector, IT and Telecom, the power sector, and the agriculture sector. Canadian firms have the capacity and technology know-how to effectively invest in these areas, as well as in variety of other sectors, to the benefit of Pakistan’s economy.”

Talking about people to people contact, she said that Canadians value their long standing ties with men and women of Pakistan and this friendship is based in part on people to people ties centered on an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 Canadians of Pakistani origin living in Canada.

“Our efforts in your country include development cooperation, trade and investment, effort to ensure regional security and human rights, empower women, and ongoing fostering of the people to people ties.

High Commissioner’s passion for women empowerment was evident from frequent mentioning of women rights her remarks. “There is a direct positive correlation between a country’s Gross Domestic Product and women’s participation in the formal economy. An additional year of schooling can increase a women’s earning by 10 per cent to 20 per cent.”

She said that Canada has supported organizations such as CARE, Kashf Foundation, and International Labor Organization to train more than 172000 aspiring women entrepreneurs in key aspects of financial literacy and business skills.

She said that Canada is committed to working with partners in Pakistan and around the world to end child, early and forced marriage. “This practice denies girls their childhood, disrupts girls access to education, and jeopardizes girls’ health. Child, early and forced marriage keeps girls from reaching their full potential and also from fully contributing to the social and economic growth of their families, their communities and their countries. She condemned terrorist violence in Pakistan which continues to claim lives of innocent men, women and children,” she said. She also congratulated Prime Minister of Pakistan for his determination to protect the women of Pakistan.

In her remarks on trade between the two countries, she highlighted that pulses and other products on agriculture market make up more than 65 per cent of Canadian exports to Pakistan. “In 2014, Pakistan was the Canada’s largest market for Canola, accounting for 47 per cent of Canadian exports to Pakistan. “I am pleased that our trade in agricultural products continues to grow.”