KARACHI, Sept 23: Speakers at a meeting on Friday urged the government, civil society organizations and the NGOs to work together to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in about a decade.

They were speaking at the concluding session of a two-day consultative conference on “Beijing and Beyond: Millennium Development Goals”, organized jointly by the National Association of Industrial, Professional and Agricultural Women, Sindh Women Development Department and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

Sindh Women Development Minister Dr Saeeda Malik said a lot of work has to be done to achieve the millennium development goals. She said that all discriminatory laws be reviewed.

She said that the National Commission on the Status of Women has also submitted its recommendations regarding discriminatory laws.

She said that soon legislation regarding domestic violence would be formulated so that culprits could be punished sternly.

She said that the government had set up a crisis centre for women in the city where a doctor, a lawyer, and other support staff was present, and the government would also establish three more such centres in Hyderabad, Sukkur and Larkana.

She said that to assist the women artisans, a display-cum-sales centre has been established to facilitated women entrepreneurs. She said women entrepreneurs would also be given small industrial plots.

Dr Malik said it should be accepted that people suffering from HIV / AIDS were present in the country and that once it was accepted, only then it could be discussed and debated, and only then efforts could be made to control these deadly diseases.

She said that the government has substantially increased the budget for health, education and other sectors.

Earlier, speakers called for launching a campaign launched to create awareness regarding MDGs and the 12 areas of concern identified by the UN be translated in regional languages.

They demanded that equal opportunities be provide to women in every field so that they could also play their due role in development and progress of the country.

They suggested that gender sensitization trainings be carried out for the members of the law-enforcement agencies, judiciary, media, etc., so that while dealing with the issues relating to women, they knew the real problem.

They demanded that efforts be made to review and abolish the customary traditions discriminatory towards vulnerable sections of the society, including women.

They suggested that workers in the informal sector, like housemaids, be unionized and efforts be made to formulate foolproof methods to check sexual harassment, particularly at the workplace and public places, etc.

They said environmental laws be formulated and implemented and that environment be included in the syllabus.

They also suggested that efforts be made to create awareness regarding the population that was increasing at an alarming rate, and that it should be controlled.

The MGDs that all the countries have agreed to achieve by 2015 are: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability and develop global partnership for development.

Shameim Kazmi, Zarina Gul, Alamgir Memon, Dr Kulsoom Shaikh, Dr Akhtar Beg Mughal, Aqeela, Abida and others also spoke.