ISLAMABAD: The Women’s Development Ministry under the Women’s Political School project has completed the training of 26,000 women councillors across the country to execute their duties at the grassroots level.

The $ 4.5 million-programme was funded by Norway and implemented by the UN Development Programme to increase the number of women councillors throughout the country who can serve the community as public representatives.

National Project Manager Rehana Hashmi told APP on Sunday that out of the 26,046 women councillors, 14,997 were trained in local government-related issues in Punjab, 3,994 in NWFP, 2,591 in Balochistan, and 4,914 in Sindh. She said 400 master trainers were engaged to train the councillors across the country through four-day workshops. In Punjab, 130 master trainers were selected, in Sindh 100, in Balochistan 50 and in NWFP 120 with local governments’ support.

“A comprehensive syllabus was pursued during the training programme and was

in line with the woman councillors’ requirements in public offices, having thoroughly studied the course contents of those organisations that trained woman councillors in the past,” said Ms Hashmi. She said the WPS training syllabus covered all aspects related to public offices in the local government including gender sensitisation to inform women about their legal and constitutional rights.

One of the trainers, Sabrina Javed, said if follow-up workshops were not conducted then the training would only yield short-term results. The four-day workshops included the introduction of the local government system, decentralisation and its link with development, gender sensitisation, methods of advocacy, the formation and role of monitoring committees, budget preparation and its approval process, the role and duties of political and administrative officials and their hierarchy in the local system.

Source: Dawn

Date:4/9/2007