British diplomat discusses underage marriages, climate change with lawmakers
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MIRPURKHAS: Bri-tish Deputy High Comm-issioner Sarah Mooney visited the city on Tuesday and called on elected parliamentarians and local government representatives of the ruling party.
Member of Provincial Assembly Khairun Nisa Mughal, who was parliamentary secretary for Cooperative and Inter-Provincial Coordination, received the guest at her residence and discussed with her the provincial government’s role in safeguarding women’s rights and providing them facilities in health and education sectors, preventing early marriage of girls, violence against transgender persons and various other issues of mutual interest.
She said that Pakistan Peoples Party’s leadership had always stressed protection of women’s rights and said the party’s government was paying special attention to resolving problems women faced in education.
She informed the diplomat that Sindh Assembly was the only assembly, which had passed the Early Marriage Restraint Act to prevent marriage of underage girls.
Ms Mooney thanked her host and said that she was very happy to be in the city, which had such a lovely environment with abundance of mango orchards.
The diplomat later met PPP MNA Mir Munawar Ali Khan Talpur and Mirpurkhas’ deputy mayor Sumera Baloch at Jinnah hall in the municipal corporation’s offices, where the two elected representatives briefed the guest on negative impact of climate change on agriculture in the area.
They said that Mirpurkhas had many problems which the municipal corporation had managed to resolve gradually with its meager budget. Local government representatives were working day and night to address peoples’ grievances, they said, adding the provincial government, too, was making all-out efforts to resolve peoples’ problems on priority basis.
Later, MNA Talpur and the deputy mayor presented Sindhi cultural gifts of Ajrak and Lungi to the guest.
Chairman of the town, Syed Khadim Ali Shah, Shazal Shah, several councilors and union council chairmen were also present during the meeting.
Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2024
