ISLAMABAD, July 12: Minister for Education Zobaida Jalal on Monday has said the government is taking every possible step to ensure gender equality in every field of life.

She was speaking as chief guest at the opening ceremony of a three-day National Girl Child Seminar at a local hotel. The seminar was organized by Family Planning Association of Pakistan (FPAP).

"The government is committed to ensuring gender equality in the country through addressing the objectives based on literacy, skill development and promotion of self confidence," the minister said.

She said the government believed that unless and until the rights of girls and women were addressed the country would not be able to unequivocally improve its indicators on gender across all social sectors.

The Girls Child Project (GCP) must be implemented through public and civil society sectors in the country, Ms Jalal said, adding that the civil society organizations, such as FPAP, had stood by all implementation phases.

"I would also like to acknowledge Unicef and its partners of having begun this programme when Pakistan needed affirmative action for girls and women. This has helped Pakistan to live up to its national and international commitments made in Nairobi, Beijing, Cairo and New York," she added.

Speaking on the occasion, the Unicef representative said the Girl Child Project of the FPAP was initiated in 1991 at 10 locations. The project has evolved effectively over a time span of 13 years and now covers 730 locations all over the country.

She said the partnership of FPAP and Unicef had helped in the successful completion of five subsequent phases of the project. Speaking on the occasion, MNA Dr Attiya Inayatullah said the GCP aimed at building the capacity of girls belonging to the marginalized rural areas and urban slums so that they might play an active role in the welfare of their family and community.