CREATIVE, innovative, productive, committed, talented, artistic, dedicated, emancipated superlatives and adjectives seemed insufficient to describe the high profile women, present under one roof at the opening of the International Conference on Gender Mainstreaming and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The conference brought many high profile Pakistani women of international fame to Islamabad including Dr Nafis Sadik, Special Envoy to UN Secretary General on HIV/ AIDS in Asia, Mehr Khan Williams, Deputy High Commissioner for the office of High Commissioner of Human Rights, US, Shirin Taherkheli, Special Assistant to the US President, Dr Riffat Hassan... the list was endless. Also present was Mukhtaran Mai. In fact so long was the list, that even Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, in his opening address acknowledged only a few, as the hall of the local hotel was packed with some 800 delegates from international, national and local governments; civil society organizations; parliamentarians, members of academia, representatives from the private sector and foreign and local media.
“While the political representation of Pakistani women does the country proud, we still lag behind in reducing maternal mortality, access to safe drinking water.” Yet, the PM was very optimistic that Pakistan is on the track in achieving most of the MDGs by target 2015. It is important to mention here that this was the third international conference in less than six months, inaugurated by the PM, that highlighted issues related to gender, health and HIV/AIDS.
The vision behind the Conference was to initiate a concrete and effective partnership between civil society, governments, the United Nations, the private sector and the donor community for gender equality and the implementation of the ‘8 Millennium Development Goals’ that include reducing by half, extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS; ensuring environmental sustainability and developing global partnerships for the achievement of the goals. The conference also examined the progress of the Asia-Pacific region towards achieving the MDGs, with a focus on ‘Goal 3’ of the MDGs, gender equality and the empowerment of women.
Progress made in implementing recommendations of various other international conferences, conventions and declarations was also reviewed. Hosted by the Ministry of Women Development and coordinated by All Pakistan Women’s Association (APWA) in collaboration with the UN agencies the Conference marked the 100th birth anniversary of APWA founder and Patron-in-Chief, Begum Raa’na Liaquat Ali Khan. A documentary on her life, paid tribute to the APWA founder member, first woman ambassador and the first woman governor, showed a glimpse of her unceasing efforts for the empowerment of women in Pakistan.
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A Women Festival linked to the three-day International Conference, was opened by Begum Sehba Musharraf. Organized at Lok Virsa to commemorate International Women’s Day, it focused on this year’s theme — Gender Equality Beyond 2005: Building a more secure future. Women artisans, entrepreneurs, not only from Islamabad and Rawalpindi but also from remote areas set up stalls of handicrafts to display and sell their products. An exhibition of paintings by university and college students on the status of women, food stalls, puppet shows, theatrical skits and plays as well as a women’s mushaira marking the closing was also part of the activities.
CAPITAL’S FATAL ALLERGY: Hospitals, medical centers and allergy clinics in the capital are flooded with patients of pollen allergy seeking relief from this deadly allergy that has become synonymous with the advent of spring in Islamabad. The peak season of pollen allergy which is aggravating the misery of the patients with every passing year starts from the month of March and stays on till late April. Doctors advise allergic patients to spend these crucial days away and thus many patients move out of Islamabad to Lahore or near-by cities for these days.
The intensity of symptoms of allergy vary from person to person; a patient with Pollen Allergy may suffer from complaints such as running nose and sneezing, difficulty in breathing, tightness in the chest or asthma with wheezing, cough, red and itchy eyes, itching on the skin. But according to Dr Osman Yusuf, a allergy and asthma specialist, “Precautions are simply not enough, proper treatment and medication is vital with precautions.”
The Paper Mulberry plant is the chief culprit here with its pollen contribution at an all time high this year. Long spells of rain this year have aggravated the situation as it brings with it the pollen grains, suspended high in the atmosphere, down to the ground, causing them to rapture and release allergic components into the air. Dr Osman insisted that patients should not take coughing, sneezing or runny nose lightly as a cough can anytime turn into an asthmatic attack. “A patient who appears absolutely healthy in the morning can become critical in a few hours time. It is always better to go to a hospital, don’t wait for the morning, it may never come,” the doctor warned.
CREATIVE, innovative, productive, committed, talented, artistic, dedicated, emancipated superlatives and adjectives seemed insufficient to describe the high profile women, present under one roof at the opening of the International Conference on Gender Mainstreaming and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
