ISLAMABAD: Potohar Organization for Development Advocacy (PODA) has demanded of the government to set 18 years as minimum age limit for girls’ marriages, said by a press release issued here. Officials from the organization put their demand amid a three days Annual Rural Women Conference organized by PODA-Pakistan here to observe International Rural Women’s Day on Saturday. They said that this age limit should be for all beyond race, ethnicity and creed.
Rural women from 123 districts were present in the 15th Annual Rural Women Conference being organized by PODA-Pakistan at Lok Virsa Islamabad. Officials from European Union Delegation to Pakistan, Election Commission of Pakistan, National Database Registration Authority (NADRA), GIZ and National Endowment for Democracy participated in the gathering and unanimously agreed upon resolutions highlighting rural women’s issues at the grassroots level to ensure their constitutional rights.
The resolutions were mainly focused on the areas of health, education, women’s financial inclusion, climate change, access to basic social services, political participation and women’s constitutional and citizenship rights while highlighting the need to adhere and ensure the principle of equal representation of rural women at all levels, policy, planning and implementation.
The conference participants of four provinces and regions of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan urged the provincial governments to adopt policies based on the concept of gender-equality which includes all segments of the society from person-with-disabilities, transgender persons, minorities, different ethnicities and indigenous communities to allocate resources for their development, while at the same time recognizing their contributions in the national development.
The conference participants reiterated their demand to recognize rural women as “farmers” so that equally to men they could be benefited from the government policies.
Reiterating European Union Delegation to Pakistan’s commitment for gender equality, present on the occasion, Thomas Seiler, Deputy Head said this conference is a “platform from where you make your voices heard collectively to tackle problems and challenges”.
He also recommended the participants to take back their action plan in the form of conference resolutions with them to work on it at union level with their utmost resilience. He said that European Union Delegation to Pakistan has been working closely with the government of Pakistan and with other donors in assessing the needs for rebuilding the flood-hit areas and supporting future recovery efforts. “Women are among the most at risk in flood-affected areas. However, at the same they need to be on the frontline of relief plans ensuring their needs are treated on priority,” Thomas Seiler said.
Lauding the efforts of PODA, Farkhanda Naz, Provincial Ombudsperson Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace urged to extend harassment act to protect women working in informal sector. Earlier President, PODA Sameena Nazir presented an over view of the previous annual rural women conferences.
Nuzhat Shirin, Chairperson Sindh Commission on the Status of Women also spoke on the occasion terming conference a unique place for nurturing “a great sense of sisterhood” among women which was in itself a great accomplishment to celebrate.
Deputy Head of EUD to Pakistan, Thomas Seiler, awarded partner organizations and rural women for their contributions taking forward the conference’s agenda into their districts across Pakistan
