May 05, 2007	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 17, 1428

ISLAMABAD, May 4: Over 200 women activists from five major political parties have identified areas of reform to enhance women’s representation and participation within their own parties.

Members of women’s wings from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N), Awami National Party (ANP) and Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) participated in separate two-day workshops, arranged by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Islamabad, Peshawar and Karachi.

According to a news release, the workshops were conducted as part of National Democratic Institute’s programme to support political parties through enhanced women’s representation.

Panels of senior party leaders from each of the five parties spoke to their party workers —from all four provinces and various levels of the party— about their party’s organization and structure, constitution and manifesto and the role of women.

The panels included Jahangir Bader, Senator Mian Raza Rabbani and Shagufta Jumani (PPP); Senator Mushahid Hussain, Nilofer Bakhtiar and Iqbal Dar (PML-Q); Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Ahsan Iqbal and Begum Ishrat Ashraf (PML-Nawaz); Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Syed Aqil Shah, Zahira Khattak and Sitara Ayaz (ANP); and Shoaib Bukhari, Bilqees Mutkhtar and Khursheed Afsar (MQM).

Each panel heard about the need for greater involvement of women in decision-making bodies and discussed possible reforms.

Participants subsequently chalked out recommendations to reform their respective party constitutions, manifestoes, organisational structures and policies so that more opportunities are available to women to serve as party activists, leaders and candidates for elections.

Each party also came up with action plans to work in small groups to advocate for the recommendations to be transformed into practical changes in their parties.

Speaking to participants, National Democratic Institute’s country director, Sheila Fruman, said women could initiate big changes through small actions if they took the first step. She added that women do not have to rely on help from others if they worked together and used their own power to build support for the changes they wanted in the party.

She said National Democratic Institute would continue to provide support to women as they seek internal party reform.

Political parties expert Jami Chandio, Dr Huma Baqai and NDI programme manager Niaz Ahmed, programme officer Asim Nawaz served as the trainers and facilitators at the workshops.