ISLAMABAD, March 7: President Gen Pervez Musharraf launched here on Thursday a National Policy for Development and Empowerment of Women and promised that womenfolk will ultimately be offered 50 per cent representation in the national and provincial assemblies.
“In the immediate context, it is perhaps difficult for us to concede to the request of the women to offer them 50 per cent seats in the assemblies but ultimately they will have it,” he added.
Speaking at the Women’s National Convention, held in time to coincide with the International Women’s Day 2000, the president also announced a three months remission to women prisoners in certain cases as an expression of solidarity with the cause of women’s rights.
The theme of the day chosen by the UN was “Afghan women today — realities and opportunities.”
The president called upon the political parties to give tickets to a maximum number of women for October elections so that half of the population of the country could get an adequate representation in the assemblies and thus resolve their socio-economic problems.
He said there will be a total of 188 seats for women in the national and provincial assemblies while their strength in the local government institutions had reached a huge 40,000.
Gen Musharraf also called upon the officials of the ministry of population and women development to hammer out a vibrant policy with a view to lowering the current population growth rate from 2.1 per cent to 1.9 per cent. “All efforts should be made to have one per cent population growth rate by 2020”.
He said the government had evolved strategies concerning education, economic uplift and political empowerment of women. In the education field, he said, the government had launched privatisation of schools. In Punjab, the private sector could open evening-shift schools on the premises of government schools, subject to the condition that 50 per cent seats be offered to girls. “I assure you that inequality in education will be removed by 2010,” he told a huge gathering drawn from diplomats and women, including girl students of schools, colleges and universities.
He said the government had also decided to give preference to women as schoolteachers to generate thousands of jobs for them. “We also prefer to give loans to women through Khushhali Bank”.
The president said the fact that 75 per cent of the mothers of the nation were illiterate, could not be wished away. “Therefore, through my Human Development Commission and public-private partnership, illiterate mothers are guaranteed access to life-long education”.
“In response to a demand from women and some enlightened men, the very first step my government took, was the establishment of an Independent Autonomous National Commission on the Status of Women,” he added.
He also announced the appointment of Justice (retd) Ms Majida Rizvi as the Chairperson of the Commission.
The president pointed out that the police reforms were on the anvil. Similarly, the appointment of more women in the judiciary, particularly at the district level, was also being ensured.
Some of the salient features of the policy unveiled by the president are: enhancement of women’s contribution as active decision-makers, participants and beneficiaries in the political and social spheres of life; achievement of equality- and equity-based harmonious partnership between the women and men so as to enable the former to realise their full potential.
