HARIPUR: Speakers at an event here on Monday stressed the need for coordinated efforts by the civil society and the government departments to promote gender equality and protect women’s rights.

The event was jointly organised by the social welfare, special education and women empowerment department and Welfare Association Jared, an NGO, in connection with the International Women’s Day.

Representatives from the civil society organisations, education, health and population welfare departments and lawyers were in attendance.

The speakers said that this year’s theme – Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress – laid emphasis on the importance of increasing investment in women’s empowerment as a key driver of sustainable development and inclusive growth. The theme, they said called upon the government, civil society, international organisations and the private sector to accelerate efforts for improving women’s access to their fundamental rights of education, healthcare, employment opportunities, and the leadership roles.

They also discussed the hiccups in the way of achieving the objective of women empowerment and stressed the need to develop a support mechanism ensuring the harassment-free environment for women workers at workplaces, providing them opportunities to contribute their physical and intellectual input to the economic development of their families and the society.

Speaking on this occasion, district officer social welfare Sana Iqbal shared the steps the provincial government was taking for women empowerment, their protection against gender-based violence and psychosocial assistance to the victims of violence.

She also stressed the need for making the committees already constituted for women’s rights functional and result-oriented. “But this objective could only be achieved through coordinated efforts on the part of social activists and the line departments,” she emphasised.

Sajida Hasrat Khan, Tehseenul Haq Awan Advocate, Gulnaz Rasheed Advocate, Riasat Khan, Nazia Khan, Dr Irfan Nasir, Mukhtar Javed and Omar Javed were among those who spoke on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2026