By: Seema Shafi

KARACHI: Today’s women, who are facing all kinds of discrimination in the society, despite all odds are coming ahead after tackling all challenges and, to achieve more progress, they still need to increase their efforts.

This was stated by Sindh Assembly Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza on Friday at a local hotel at the launching ceremony of the women’s economic Empowerment through Capacity Building and Skill Development Training Programme.

Addressing the graceful ceremony, which was organised by the First Women Bank, she urged the women to take interest in women development works and training programmes to come out of old life style. They must know that they are very important part of society, so they would be able to get their due rights, she added.

She called for legislation for providing social and economic empowerment of women. She said that discrimination against women should be ended at all forums, so that more opportunities could be provided to them. “The day is not far when the women would have more economic, social and political powers,” she added.

The purpose of these types of training programmes and workshops is that women are dedicated for struggling and contributing for the development and progress of the country. Shela vowed to continue the struggle for the rights of the women.

She said that women constitute 55 percent of the country’s population, and underlined the need for bringing them into the mainstream, so that they could perform well with male members of the society. She said that the government is striving to address all the issues, particularly relating to the women. She was of the view that the present mindset and perception against women should be changed.

“Legal empowerment and social empowerment is need of the hour to end discriminatory laws against women,” she said. All stakeholders including law enforcement agencies and media should play their role to eliminate social evils against women in the society, she said.

The holy Quran and Sunnah teach protection of women rights and these must be promoted in the society, she said. The protection of women’s rights should be a part of all political parties’ manifestos. Highlighting the performance of the FWB, the President of the Bank, Shafqat Sultana, said that the bank is getting its purpose by networking of training programmes in the country and she is really proud of it. She also said that poverty is targeting the society in more than one way. It is killing the overall system of the society. There is no remedy for development more effectively than the empowerment of women.

Today, the women have a role to play in all aspects of society, including resolving the economic crisis, promoting civil society, human rights, education, healthcare, the rule of law, and good governance. “It is imperative that women like ours stand up for the rights of women.”

She also said that women are taking advantage of the loans provided by the FWB because after 21 years of the bank “we observe that a transition has taken place in the professional lives of the women of our country and there has been a shift from the traditional specialised professionals”. Shoaib Siddiqui, Secretary, Youth and Sports Affairs, said that the First Women Bank is playing a vital role in women development works in the country. He said that women are making progress by increasing their efforts. Later, Shafqat Sultana FWBL, Shoaib Siddiqui Secretary youth and sports Affairs of Sindh signed the MoU.

Source: Business Recorder

Date:7/30/2011