March 28, 2006	Tuesday	Safar 27, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, March 27: Women active in Pakistani politics need to form alliances within and between their political parties so as to encourage women activism across the board, according to the US ambassador Ryan C. Crocker.

Though the Pakistani women had gained entry into “the room”, they still face the challenge of participating in the debate to shape the future to their advantage, he told a conference held at the Parliament Lodges here on Monday.

The conference was organized by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) of the US for women political activists in its programme of “Supporting Women Political Leaders in Muslim South Asia”.

Ambassador Crocker appreciated that in terms of women empowerment in politics, South Asia had set a trend where women leaders were leading the countries and assured the US will also be witnessing the same trend.

“Yes, women are under represented in the (US) Congress and the Senate and equal representation should be the goal for every one of us,” he said, conscious of the political realities back home.

“My two predecessors in Pakistan were women, and two of my last bosses as secretaries of state were also women which shows the level of women participation in the US,” said the ambassador.

Speakers at the conference also stressed that women should be encouraged to play, within and outside the political parties, their due role in bringing about true democratic cultures in the South Asian countries.

People’s Party Parliamentarians MNA Sherry Rehman lauded NDI’s efforts to make women political activists of the region aware of their political rights. “Most of the women parliamentarian and councilors in Pakistan even don’t know their entitlements,” she said.

“You people are the real active change makers, and have to continue your efforts with the same spirit,” she told the master trainers of various political parties attending the conference.

She said, “being a progressive and liberal political party”, the PPP was led by a woman and had always given special attention to women’s mainstreaming within and outside the party.

Political parties should provide a support base as a policy mechanism to their women activists as PPP has promoted its women wing at all levels, she said.

Instead of acting as “mere proxies” the women occupying the reserved seats in the parliament should use the opportunity to further women’ role in politics.

Ms Rehman also stressed the need for building alliances among women political activists regardless of their political affiliations for promoting women’s role in politics, in particular, and in the country’s development, in general.

She also called for reservation of 10 per cent employment quota in the public sector organization, appointment of women judges, lady health workers and teachers.

Senior vice-president of the ruling Muslim League (PML) Gohar Ayub Khan, however, observed that participation of women in politics was “an uphill task in the country”.

Himself a former speaker of the National Assembly, he made the remarkable admission that “owing to their ‘reserved seats’ status, women parliamentarians are not taken seriously by their fellow colleagues, even at times, the speaker does not allow them to speak on a certain issue”.

“This attitude needs to be rectified,” he said.

Emergence of women leaders in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan has largely been due to tragedies in their families. However, there was pressing need to gradually streamline their role in politics, Mr Khan said.

“Yes, political parties should induct more women in their central working committees to have their say in their policy makings which, of course, needed determined efforts,” he added.

There was no doubt that “we have strong democratic values and despite innumerable excesses committed against political activists, they are pushing forward to have a true democratic culture in the country”.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) MNA Syed Haider Abbas Rizvi said Pakistani women had tremendous potential and talent which needed to be utilized in all spheres of the national life.

“Whether you go to a university or professional college girl students are outnumbering boys which is an obvious testimony to their ability,” he said.

Earlier NDI programme manager Amy Hamelin welcomed the participants and talked of NDI initiatives. Sheila Fruman, incoming NDI country director, spoke on its global action plan and “success stories”.