ISLAMABAD, June 22: The adviser to prime minister on women development and social welfare, Nilofar Bakhtiar, on Tuesday stressed the need for more active cooperation among Saarc member countries on the issue of women rights.

The adviser was speaking to the delegates of Saarc Autonomous Advocacy Group of Prominent Women Personalities (SAWAG) at the end of its first two-day meeting held here at a local hotel.

Being appreciative of the formation of group, she said it was a right initiative at the right time, and hoped that in future it would help ensure women emancipation in the Saarc region.

"It is genuinely being felt in the Saarc region that streamlining of gender-based issues is need of the hour, and I am hopeful that SAWAG will go a long way in letting women know their rights," she said.

Saarc member countries have common problems, be it in the field of economy, environment or women rights, hence such initiatives through which joint strategies can be evolved are of critical importance, she added.

Ms Bakhtiar also assured the delegates that the Pakistan government would take every possible step to facilitate SAWAG activities in the country. She also thanked the delegates for coming to Pakistan. However, representatives of India and the Maldives were not present at the meeting.

Afterwards, Shehla Zia, who was also elected first chairperson of the SAWAG, briefed the mediapersons on the idea behind the formation of the advocacy group. "We want to share information as to what are the commonalities as far as the women issues in the Saarc region are concerned and that is only possible through the creation of such groups."

The next step of the group is the constitution of country chapters, which would be regularly coordinating with each other in line with the group's future course of action.

She said initially the group had selected five areas to work on. These are participation of women in politics, HIV/AIDS, women rights, education and women trafficking. The next meeting of the group would be held in Dhaka after three months, where all Saarc countries would submit reports on these five areas.

Then onwards, the group will work on plan of actions focusing on how Saarc countries could move forward collectively to address women issues. "At the end of the two-day meeting, we have come to the conclusion that we have same problems and a joint strategy could deliver positive results," she said.

During the question-answer session, she said, the group had decided to have biannual meetings and each country would host these meetings in rotation. Replying to another question, she said so far respective countries were providing funding for the group's activities, however, in the future international donor agencies would be asked for help.

When asked that what was the criteria for being a prominent woman and how to become a member of the SAWAG, Ms Zia said the respective governments had nominated members of the SAWAG, who had been working for the promotion of women rights.