Fehmida Mirza to open workshop on women equality on July 21
ISLAMABAD (July 18 2008): National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza will inaugurate a roundtable workshop on gender mainstreaming through legal reforms – gender equality, in simple words – here on July 21. The German agency for development assistance, GTZ, will sponsor the three-day discussion, which will be spread over six sessions.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani is expected to address the round table on the concluding day. The theme, adopted for discussions, include equality of women along with men in all spheres of life, including adjustment of national policies and appropriate laws in order that men and women should benefit equally.
It would seek elimination of inequality against women. The workshop would focus on the constitutional provisions that guarantee fundamental rights to women in all national spheres, such as freedom of association of movement, assembly, association, business, trade, profession as well as the right to hold property.
Besides recommending policies and effective laws to end gender inequality at decision-making levels, it would touch the labour as well informal sectors of the economy where participation of women is almost 80 per cent.
Most likely, the participants would wish to help the new government in initiating gender sensitive reforms to do away with obsolete labour laws and also increase employment of women. A number of stakeholders have been invited to the proposed discussion forum, including parliamentarians, functionaries of Women Development Division, government functionaries, representatives of public sector corporations, Council of Islamic Ideology as well as the National Commission on the Status of Women.
Source: Business Recorder
Date:7/18/2008
