KARACHI, March 9: Sindh Education Minister Prof Anita Ghulam Ali has called for provision of an enabling environment so that women work with their full potentials and abilities.

She was speaking as chief guest at a seminar on women empowerment here on Saturday, which was organized by the Human Rights International Alliance (HRIA).

The minister was of the view that female employees in government offices face inconveniences and as such steps should be taken to rectify the situation.

As far as the newly announced National Commission for Women, she suggested that it must be autonomous and have three permanent members.

The minister said the education department was the biggest in Sindh government with 240,000 employees, most of them women.

She said since 1999 only female teachers had been recruited for primary level education.

The president of HRIA, Noor Naz Agha, hailed the government for increasing the number of women seats in the assemblies and hoped that with the involvement in the process of decision-making, women would contribute towards realization of their rights.

Shafi Mohammad Chandia, Baseer Navaid, Syed Ghulam Shah, Fatima Mansoori, Asifa Rizvi, Mahar Hussain Shah and Zeenat Brohi also expressed their views on the occasion.

A resolution adopted at the seminar demanded that all the discriminatory laws should be reviewed in accordance with CEDAW and the report of the women’s commission.—APP