March 15, 2013 – Pakistan Gender News

March 15, 2013

Financial assistance: UK to support 0.4 m schoolgirls in K-P

“As part of the programme, the provincial government will introduce a pioneering system of electronic payments to provide stipends to help girls stay in school,” says

ISLAMABAD: The United Kingdom will provide stipends to secondary school girls across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), which will help 0.4 million girls this year. This was stated by the head of the Department for International Development (DFID) in Pakistan George Turkington, said press release issued on Thursday.

“As part of the programme, the provincial government will introduce a pioneering system of electronic payments to provide stipends to help girls stay in school,” he said. Stipends are payments made available to the, which cover their cost of going to school, and serve as a financial incentive to increase enrolment, he remarked.

Turkington said, new mechanism of distributing stipends, which will initially be trialed in four districts, will bring an added degree of accountability and transparency to the programme by ensuring payments are more efficient and secure.

The provincial government will also focus on the capacity building and training of Parent Teacher Councils (PTC) with the support of the UK government. As total of 4,000 PTCs will receive grants to allow them to take forward basic refurbishment and repairs of schools. Repairing schools is a key priority since a number girls drop out after primary school due to a lack of facilities such as boundary walls and separate lavatories, the press release said.

“The UK has worked closely in partnership with K-P over recent years to deliver results on education, and the provincial government’s commitment to introduce an innovative system of distributing stipends to girls is another big step in that direction,” he added.

K-P Secretary Higher Education Farah Hamid Khan said, “the government of K-P values the financial and technical support provided by DFID to improve the state of education in this province.”

Source: Daily Times

March 15, 2013

NA passes resolution against hindrance to girls’ education

By: Muhammad Anis

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on the last day of its sitting on Thursday passed a unanimous resolution strongly condemning any act or practice that hinders the girls’ education.

The resolution, moved by Dr Attiya Inayatullah, stated that such acts be considered as criminal offence. It called upon the coming National Assembly to continue legislation for the girls’ education.

The National Assembly also passed a unanimous resolution paying tribute to Shaheed Benazir Bhutto for her invaluable sacrifices for the people of the country and strengthening of democracy.

The resolution, moved by Farzana Raja, stated that Shaheed Benazir Bhutto was a symbol of reconciliation and courage. It said that she sacrificed her life for democracy and rights of the people and by strengthening the democracy in the country, her sacrifices would be honoured.

The National Assembly also passed a unanimous resolution acknowledging the role of Women Parliamentarians Caucus for the promotion of cooperation among the member countries.

“Recognising the contribution of all the political parties in uniting women on the single platform of Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (WPC), we the members of the National Assembly resolve to support the WPC in upcoming parliaments,” the resolution moved by Ms Donya Aziz of the PML-Q, said.

“This House acknowledges the extraordinary work of the WPC and the example it has set for bipartisan cooperation in Pakistan’s Parliament. Further recognising the enormous contribution of Pakistan’s first Women Speaker, Dr Fehmida Mirza, in the formation and success of the WPC; we, resolve to nominate Dr Mirza as the founding patron of the WPC so that she may continue as a guiding force to this important forum in upcoming parliaments.”

The National Assembly also passed a unanimous resolution expressing grave concern over the situation in occupied Kashmir arising out of execution of Kashmiri leader Afzal Guru. The National Assembly also called upon the international community not to act as a silent spectator to the situation and urged India to resolve the Kashmir issue. Chairman of the Special Kashmir Committee of the Parliament, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, also stressed the Indian government to hand over the body of Afzal Guru to his relatives.

Source: The News

March 15, 2013

Call to boost business skills among women

KARACHI: Highlighting the importance of female entrepreneurship, speakers at a conference on Thursday called for an unbiased action plan to enrich entrepreneurial skills in women of the country.

They said gender-based barriers, including discriminatory laws and cultural practices, difficulties in access to financial support, limited mobility and unequal sharing of family and household responsibilities should be addressed to promote women entrepreneurship.

The Employers’ Federation of Pakistan organised the conference in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Islamabad, in connection with International Women’s Day, which was observed across the globe on March 8.

A faculty member of the Karachi University public administration department, Ghazal Khawaja Humayun Akhtar, said that it was unfortunate that successive governments in the country failed to show a clear vision and formulate a solid policy for the development of human capital.

“About 50 per cent of our population comprising women have proved to be the most suppressed segment of our society,” she said.

She stressed the need to activate young girls and women and make them play their role in economic growth of the country as entrepreneurs and discover profitable opportunities and manage productive ventures.

A programme officer with the ILO Islamabad, Rabia Razzaque, said that the World Bank’s World Development Report 2011 suggested that productivity could be increased by as much as 25 per cent in some countries if discriminatory barriers against women were removed.

KU dean of education faculty Prof Dr Shahida Sajjad referred to some studies and said that 70 per cent of 1.3 billion people who lived in absolute poverty around the globe were women.

“Women, who work about two-thirds of the world’s working hours, earn only 10 per cent of the world income and own less than one per cent of the world property,” she said.

Source: Dawn

March 15, 2013

Self-destruction: Social worker killed

THE brutal slaying of Orangi Pilot Project director Perween Rahman in Karachi on Wednesday comes as a shock, despite the fact that as a nation we have become inured to violence. She was a brave, committed woman who worked for the uplift of the poor and marginalised. For three decades, Ms Rahman worked in a challenging environment in a part of Karachi that suffers from frequent breakdowns of law and order. She worked for the benefit of those the state was unable — or unwilling — to help. The OPP has developed sewage and sanitation systems for the vast settlement as well as undertaken health, education and economic uplift projects for the community on a self-help basis. The brainchild of the late Akhtar Hameed Khan, the OPP has won national and global acclaim.

Those close to Ms Rahman say she had been receiving death threats from the land mafia, while police claimed a Taliban ‘commander’ had been involved in her slaying. The OPP director had been documenting cases of land grabbing on Karachi’s fringes, and anti-encroachment activists have been targeted in the past. All angles must be probed and the police cannot simply wash their hands of the investigation by blaming the killing on religious extremists. In Karachi, crime, land grabbing and dirty politics complement each other while religious militancy adds further potency to this toxic mix. Hence it is difficult to pinpoint a motive in such cases.

Ms Rahman’s killing represents a disturbing trend where those who attempt to bring positive change to society are targeted. Last month Dr Ali Haider, a leading eye specialist of Lahore, was killed in a sectarian attack along with his son. The doctor also regularly provided free medical care to needy patients. Across Pakistan aid workers have been attacked, polio teams have been hunted down and teachers have been killed due to a variety of reasons, including religious and nationalist militancy.

What is equally disturbing is that women — and children — who were previously not targeted by militants are now considered fair game. The state and society have both failed to unequivocally condemn these deadly trends and work towards uprooting the forces responsible for spreading such violence. Meanwhile political parties are too busy politicking to raise their voices against the targeting of socially active individuals. Hence the question for us all to ponder is: what will become of a society that, for the most part, sits quietly as its messiahs are systematically wiped out?

Source: Dawn