MUZAFFARABAD :Denmark’s ambassador to Pakistan Jesper Moller Sorensen on Tuesday launched a nationwide project aimed at fostering an enabling environment for effective citizenship and responsive governance for youth - especially young women and girls.

‘Gender Empowerment and Institutional Development Programme’ being implemented by Oxfam Novib and its Pakistani partners, is supported by the Danish government with a donation of 15 million Danish kroner ($2.5 million).

It will be implemented in all four provinces, including Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Bajaur Agency.

“Early marriage is a major challenge in Pakistan as 40 per cent of girls are married before the age of 18, denying them their basic right to good health, education and freedom from violence, abuse and exploitation,” said the ambassador, at the ceremony held in the City Campus of University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (UAJK).

“Most fundamentally, it deprives a child the basic right of simply being a child.”

Opening the ceremony, Arif Jabbar Khan, Oxfam’s country director in Pakistan, highlighted his organisation’s vision of a society where everyone was valued and treated equally, and able to infl uence decisions that affected their lives while assuming their responsibilities as active citizens.

“Human development is driven by empowered women.

Oxfam continues to place the highest priority on supporting women and girls to become leaders and to ensure that their roles in society and the economy are properly valued and recognised,” he said.

Refl ecting on Denmark’s support to gender equality, Ambassador Sorensen stated that promotion of gender equality was a consistent feature in his country’s entire development and humanitarian assistance programmes.

“Our support to work on gender equality is based on a rights-based approach. This approach focuses on improving women’s access to fundamental rights, to resources and to infl uence.”

He also highlighted that the project would engage parents and teachers, local and national governments, parliamentarians, media, religious scholars and civil society across Pakistan.

“By also including these groups, the initiative aims to create an environment for effective citizenship and responsive governance, where people - especially youth and women - can exercise their reproductive health rights without any discrimination of gender,” he said.

During the launch, the audience was engaged in a dialogue on gender and youth rights through an interactive play performance by members from the Interactive Resource Centre.

The audience was asked to decide the possible ending of the story play, endorsing that any decision to be made needed to be based on information and knowledge.

Speaking on the occasion, MNA Maiza Hameed, Chief Coordinator of Prime Minister Youth Skills Development Scheme, affi rmed the PML-N government’s commitment to empower youth in the country.

She also enumerated various initiatives taken to lift young people out of poverty, discrimination and marginalisation.

UAJK’s Vice Chancellor Dr Syed Dilnawaz Ahmed Gardezi informed the audience that 45 per cent of the students in UAJK were girls, which refl ected the signifi cant ratio of women enrolment in AJK.

The ceremony was also addressed by Oxfam Novib associate country director Arie Schuurmans.

Published in Dawn December 3rd , 2014