ISLAMABAD: Access to education for girls is essential for Pakistan’s growth as this will help in building a rich, just and healthier society.

These views were expressed by British High Commissioner to Pakistan Dr Christian Turner at the inauguration of Girls Education and Enterprise Alliance (GEEA), launched by the Idara-i-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) or the Centre for Education and Consciousness.

The alliance aims to empower girls and young women in Pakistan with national and global support.

The purpose of the gathering was to bring together parliamentarians, government officials, development partners, education experts and civil society advocates on one platform to pledge for Smart programmes for out-of-school girls across the country.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) Senator Dr Sania Nishtar while addressing the event said, “Our government is fully conscious that an educated girl can contribute more effectively to society. Ehsaas conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes providing cash stipends for education and nutrition are purposely skewed in favour of girls to safeguard gender equity.

This award is stipulated to facilitate continuation of girls’ education to the secondary level, as dropout rate is very high among girls at this stage, she added.

Dr Turner said: “I am here to say that the United Kingdom will help in this journey”.

ITA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Baela Raza Jamil officially announced the launch of GEEA followed by partners signing up for the alliance.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2021