KARACHI, Feb 27: Speakers at a workshop on women’s rights demanded of the government to comply with UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) reminding Islamabad that it was a signatory to the Convention. They urged the government to enact laws and modify the existing ones in order to ensure protection to women’s rights.

The two-day orientation workshop has been organized by the Aurat Foundation.

The speakers described CEDAW as ‘a comprehensive bill of rights’ for women and various concerns. They said that it was based on the principle of equality between the two genders and extended and strengthened the coverage of fundamental rights.

The Convention, they added, recognized that in majority of cases, the woman was subjected to socially-constructed inequality. They indicated the CEDAW also established that the woman was a victim discrimination around the world.

Some of the speakers came out with facts and figures pertaining to the role and importance of women. They pointed out that women workforce in the world’s food production was equal to that of men. At the same time, women perform 66 per cent work, including household jobs, they added.

Despite taking this much pains, they regretted, nearly 70 per cent of the poor world over were women whose earning constituted just 10 per cent of the two genders’ income. They noted that women owned only one per cent of the world’s property and that 66 per cent of the illiterate people were women. The speakers claimed that women’s representation in the economic and political decision-making bodies in the world was negligible.

The figures showed that at regional level, there are 94 women for 100 men in South Asia — 92.6 in Pakistan, 102 in Sri Lanka, 98 in Bhutan 97 in Nepal, 94.5 in Maldives and 94.5 in India. An upward trend, however, has been recorded over the past decade.

The speakers observed said that illiteracy rate among females above 15 years stood at 68 per cent as compared to 39 per cent in males. Nearly 29 per cent of the males in the age group of 15-24 years are illiterate as against 58 per cent females.

They said that nearly 70 per cent of the women in urban areas worked in the sector not recognized and covered by legislation and thus remained low-paid.

They deplored that the women having same qualifications as those of their male counterparts were being paid wages lesser that the latter’s.

They observed that despite availability of constitutional guarantees, gender-based discrimination in education, employment and other fields was rampant.

They recalled that Islamabad had signed the CEDAW in 1996 but could not submit a report to the United Nations within the stipulated time. The report was submitted at a wrong place in 2001 and eventually it was returned the next year.

The speakers welcomed the government’s measures to increase women representation at various levels and setting up of a permanent commission on the status of women. They also hailed the move to provide food to the girl students in their schools under ‘Tawana Pakistan’ programme.

Among the speakers were Shagufta Alizai, Nuzhat Shirin, Yunus Khalid and Shahid Faiz. Several women members of Sindh Assembly, members of various NGOs and activists of different organizations attended the workshop.