PPP committed to empowering women: Fizza

BISP, employment quota, aiding women’s contributions to the economy
Ambassador for Women’s Empowerment Syeda Fizza Batool Gilani said the Pakistan People’s Party is committed to empowering women according to the vision of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. Addressing a seminar on ‘Women’s Empowerment’ on Saturday‚ she said the effective role of women in every sector of the economy is a prerequisite for the country’s progress.
Gilani stated that the government wants to mobilise collective power of women for the betterment of the country.
Addressing a seminar on ‘Women Empowerment’ organised by the State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan at a local hotel on Saturday, she said the government believed in the protection of women’s rights and their empowerment and had taken steps for providing equal opportunities to women in all walks of life according to the manifesto of the party. She said women had to face several problems in the society, but Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed was the first woman who initiated policies in which women’s rights were protected. She added that women should be economically empowered if the society wanted to give them the status of a first class citizen. She said the present government had also taken several steps for empowering women and had established two institutes for the purpose, including the National Commission on the Status of Women and the National Commission on Human Rights as well as passing 24 bills for women in the National Assembly.
Citing major legislation for women’s rights, Fiza said the government had introduced the Anti-Women Practice Act, Acid Crime Act, Women in Distress and Detention Fund/ Act, Protection against Harassment of Women at the Work Place and National Vocational and Technical Training Commission Act 2011.
She stated that fixing a 10 percent quota for women in employment and the Benazir Income Support Programme had also been initiated for the women. “The government has also initiated a programme for providing agricultural land to 6,000 landless female farmers to allow them to participate in economic activities,” she added. She expressed her determination to work for the provision of equal rights to women. “Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani is very interested in the welfare and empowerment of women. He has always said women are his constituency,” she added. She appreciated the State Life Corporation for providing opportunities to women and encouraging them and directed its chairman Shahid Siddiqui to resolve the medical and tax-related problems of female sales representatives working in the department. Batool gave away achievement awards to sales representatives while State Life Corporation Chairman Shahid Siddiqui presented a shield to her.