Effective legislation crucial to address women issues

Islamabad : Parliaments in the world would have to effectively legislate to address women issues and ensure their social and financial inclusion.

These views were expressed by participants belonging to different countries in a session entitled ‘Women at the centre of development agenda’ held during the Third Regional Seminar for the Asia-Pacific Region Parliaments on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Two-day event is being organised jointly by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the National Assembly of Pakistan. The session focused on the importance of establishing mechanisms and procedures to mainstream the SDGs in parliament’s work in a comprehensive manner.

The session focused on understanding the impact of Covid-19 pandemic and women and identified the root causes of discrimination that curtail women’s rights. The National Assembly of Pakistan presented a case study on its cross-party Women’s Parliamentary Caucus, which has become an international good practice, replicated in over a dozen other parliaments as well as in provincial and regional legislatures.

The moderator of the session MNA Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar said that better legislation, laws and sensitization were crucial to address women related issues.

She said that they needed to have women at the decision-making level because they were not any less committed than their male counterparts in terms of performing their duties with responsibility, hard work and dedication. Asia-Pacific region countries, she said, had made significant progress in creating legal and policy frameworks that support gender equality.

Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar said that regional governments had achieved progress in women’s empowerment in areas such as social protection programs, increased economic empowerment, increased participation in public life, and improved health outcomes.

“Women’s literacy has also improved in the region, although gaps still exist in leadership, employment, health, and education. We still have a long way to go and address the rural-urban divide,” she maintained. The global proportion of women parliamentarians, she said, had increased by 0.6 percentage points to reach 26.1 per cent according to the IPU’s latest Women in Parliament in 2021 report.

The right of women to participate in political and democratic decision-making processes is enshrined in international treaties such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. She said that many challenges continued to hamper progress on the Goal-05. Many women continued to be restricted in their ability to engage in economic and social activities outside of the home due to discriminatory norms and practices, mobility restrictions, and heavy household responsibilities, which hinder their chances of achieving financial security, autonomy in decision-making, and personal development, she added.

She said no country had made economic and social progress without empowering its women. China and Bangladesh offer good examples of how women have developed their societies. Federal Ombudsperson Kashmala Tariq said Women had turned economies of many countries. Developing countries can achieve the same by providing equal opportunities to women.

She demanded the IPU to ensure inclusion of women in its resolutions and more and more representation in all spheres. “The world has changed. Now Right is Might not Might is Right,” remarked Kashmala. The Parliament of Pakistan, she said realized the importance of the participation of women Parliamentarians in the legislative process, adding that it was keen to legislate to promote and protect women’s rights and address the obstacles faced by women in the country.

State Minister for Finance Ayesha Ghaus Pasha said that there was need of financial inclusion of women. She said that effective legislation should be ensured by Parliaments for women empowerment. The representatives from Iran and Maldives also agreed on the effective role of parliament to empower women.