Pakistani women playing vital role in all departments

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said that Pakistan is one of the leading country in the developing states where the women had been empowered more as compared to other countries and they are playing vital role in different departments.

She was addressing a reception hosted by British High Commissioner Adam Thomson at the British High Commission on Monday night ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting taking place in Perth, Australia on 28th October.

The theme of the event was ‘Women as Agents of Change’ and the British High Commissioner was joined at the event by Australian High Commissioner Timothy George.

Hina Rabbani Khar said it was the credit of Pakistan that Shaheed Benazir Bhutto was the first woman prime minister of Muslim countries.

She said speaker of National Assembly is women and many other departments have significant representation of women.

Hina Rabbani Khar said from agriculture to business, women are actively participating in all the fields in Pakistan.

She said a number of legislation had been passed by the parliament with the support of all the political parties for the protection and empowerment of women.

Highlighting the importance of Benazir Income Support Programme, initiated by the present government, she said, the programme is aimed at the economic empowerment of the women through out the country.

British High Commissioner Adam Thomson addressing the reception said, “The Commonwealth is an important international forum for the UK, Australia and Pakistan, bringing together over 2 billion people from 54 countries- one third of the world’s population.”

He said, “The UK is committed to playing a leading role in developing our links with the Commonwealth.”

He said, “Today we are celebrating one of the core messages of this year’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which is “Women as Agents of Change”.

The British High Commissioner said,” Today, we have highlighted just a few of Pakistan’s women who are playing inspiring roles across all areas of Pakistani society.

This is just a small example of the important role that women play in Pakistan every day.”

He said, “It is vital that Pakistan continues to encourage the involvement of women in all aspects of society, and we continue to support the government of Pakistan in achieving this.”

The High Commissioner also recognised some of the best entries to the British High Commission’s online competition where it asked people from across Pakistan to send stories of Pakistani women who had inspired them or inspired change in their communities.

British High Commissioner Thomson said, “It’s important to recognise not just those inspirational women in the public eye but also those who work hard to bring a better life to those in their communities.”

He said, “We received many entries to our online competition highlighting many of Pakistan’s inspirational women.

Some were teachers who have inspired their students to strive to achieve their potential, some were mothers who worked tirelessly to look after their families and drive their children to succeed, and some were inspirational women working with those less fortunate in their communities to make a better life for those around them.”

The British High Commission used today’s event to celebrate the women, recognising their achievements at every level, and from every part of the country.

The British High Commission produced a video to recognise the inspirational stories of women in Pakistan from Fehmida Mirza, Speaker National Assembly to Zahida Kazmi, Pakistan’s first woman taxi driver as well as other exceptional women from politics, business, the NGO sector and the arts, recognising their contribution to Pakistan and their inspirational messages to women across the country.

Australian High Commissioner Timothy George speaking on the occasion said Australia is proud to host coming Commonwealth Summit in the last week of this month.

He said the Commonwealth Organization comprising over 50 countries is very dynamic body working for the welfare of the member states.

The Australian High Commissioner expressed the hope that coming Commonwealth Summit will prepare the agenda for further development, progress and prosperity of the member states.

A large number of women from different walks of life including sports, media, health, parliament, politics, business, economic, art and culture and social welfare departments and diplomats attended the reception.