PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Information Shaukat Ali Yousafzai has said the provincial government will make efforts for enacting all pending pro-women legislations at the earliest so as to ensure women rights are defended.

Addressing an event jointly organised by UN Women and social welfare, special education and women empowerment department at Nishtar Hall in connection with the International Women Day, he said his government was committed to improving the status of women in the province and advance gender equality agenda, according to a press release issued on Wednesday.

Mr Yousafzai appreciated the efforts of UN Women and social welfare department for organising the event. He said, “It is important to celebrate the day, but what is more important is to continue supporting women in order to help them reach their full potential.”

“The government has taken certain steps in this regard i.e. the women empowerment policy is under implementation, pending legislations will be approved and new laws will be introduced to ensure women rights are safeguarded,” he added.

Social welfare department secretary Mohammad Idrees Khan Marwat said the department was working towards women empowerment. “We are sensitising all other government entities to ensure gender sensitive planning and budgeting is taking place at their level,” he remarked.

Head of sub-office UN Women Peshawar, Zainab Qaiser Khan, highlighted the work of UN Women to advance gender equality and empowerment of women and girls. She said UN Women was committed to ending violence against women and upgrading the shelter homes to provide shelter to women survivors of violence.

The participants were informed that a known human rights activist, Rukhshanda Naz, had recently been appointed as the first provincial ombudsperson under the Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2010, for dealing with the harassment cases at workplaces in public and private sector institutions in the province.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2019