WASHINGTON: The Ben­a­zir Income Support Prog­ramme’s (BISP) Chairperson Marvi Memon has been appointed to the World Bank Group’s Advisory Council on Gender and Development for two years, the Pakistan emb­assy announced on Monday.

Earlier, the World Bank Group and Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) awarded funds to a Pakistani team from The Urban Insti­tute and Information Tech­nology University to investigate the environment that perpetuates the harassment of women on public transit systems in the country.

The proposed study will try to find solutions to reverse this trend. The winners will spend 18 months in a cross-disciplinary approach and focus on the Lahore Metro Bus System to inform transit systems countrywide.

The Pakistani team is one of 10 teams from around the world awarded competitive funds totalling $1.14 million for innovations to prevent and respond to gender-based violence. The World Health Organi­sation estimates that 35 per cent of women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual partner viole­n­­ce or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. Bey­ond the devastating personal costs, gender-based violence inflicts a steep economic toll: estimates of resulting lost productivity run as high as 3.7pc in some economies.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2017