ISLAMABAD: The United Nations Office of Project Support (UNOPS) in partnership with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa transport department and UN Women will launch a ‘Women bus service’ in selected districts of the province with financial support from the Japanese government.

The initiative will launch 14 buses in Peshawar, Mardan and Abbottabad. The Japanese embassy and the UNOPS country office in Pakistan signed the project agreement on Wednesday.

Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador of Japan Takashi Kurai said that Japan was keen to support women since gender empowerment was Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe’s top priority.

The project, he said, would contribute towards socio-economic empowerment by providing women with a safer and affordable means of travel, adding that it would help women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa access their workplace and institutions without any fear of street harassment.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2016