Rural Women Conference 2011

Organized by PODA – Pakistan

Conference Resolution

Approved by conference participants on 16^th October 2011 at Islamabad

Over 800 participants, mostly rural women from all parts of Pakistan, participated in the 4^th Annual PODA conference on Rural Women Day in Islamabad. The conference was also attended by representatives of various government agencies including Ministry of Human Rights, Office of the Prime Minister of Pakistan represented by the newly appointed Goodwill Ambassador on Women’s Empowerment and Advisor to the Prime Minister on Social Sector and Education, Provincial government department of women development from Balochistan province as well as the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW). In addition, a number of poets, writers, farmers, students, women’s rights  activists, lady health workers, women councilors, national organizations including SAP-PK, SPO, Shirkat Gah, Aurat Foundation and provincial groups including Bacha Khan Trust Educational Foundation and international organizations including UNWomen Pakistan, FAO Pakistan, ActionAid Pakistan also participated actively.

Keynote speakers included the Ambassador of Norway in Pakistan, Chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women and Country Director UN Women Pakistan. Solidarity messages were also sent by the Speaker of National Assembly of Pakistan and Chairperson of Women Parliamentarian Caucus of Pakistan. The conference was held at the national Folk heritage building of Lok Virsa in Islamabad on 15^th and 16^th October 2011.  Overall more than 30 organizations from across Pakistan participated. Rural women came from 81 Districts of Pakistan and spoke strongly about the problems and their strategies for issues of food security, peace, gender based discrimination and exclusion of rural women from decision making positions. After two days of deliberations, the conference participants overwhelmingly approved the following resolution:  

 “ We the participants of 4^th annual conference on Rural Women Day in Pakistan  demand the following":

1.       Rural women should be represented at all decision-making levels in Pakistan starting from the village Union Councils.  

2.       District Peace Committees must include women as equal members in all districts.

3.       A new Line Item (maad ) should be added in annual budget of all districts so that every year specific funds are allocated for gender specific needs of women. This should be initiated by district budget committees and approved by the provinces.  

4.       Rural women agriculture workers must be recognized as “ Farmers” and their labour must be counted as productive agriculture work and noted in annual GNP.

5.       Unused government land should be given to landless rural women farmers (a minimum of 4 acres land should be transferred in name of one woman as owner).

6.       Local government system should be restored so that women councilors can help the rural women in accessing their basic citizenship rights and facilitate services.

7.       Women farmers should be given health insurance and agriculture crop insurance.

8.       Census questionnaire should specify/add all types of work done by rural women.

9.       Fertilizer and multinational companies should specify and allocate their corporate social responsibility budget for education and welfare of rural girl and women.

10.    Rural women demand ‘Women Farmers Bank’ to cater to their specific needs.

11.    Implementation mechanism for Anti-Sexual Harassment Law should be ensured.

12.    Rural girls should be allowed to study agriculture at Middle & High school levels.

13.    Implementation of 10 % job quota for women should be ensured in all government jobs in rural areas especially in Land Revenue (Patwari) department.

14.    Following the good example of the federal government of Pakistan, the Provincial governments should also recognize 15^th October as ‘Rural Women Day’ in Pakistan.

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For more information contact: info@poda.org.pk or call Conference Coordinator (051) 260-9743

Saadia Khalid
Sunday, October 16, 2011

To highlight and recognise the contributions of rural women on the occasion of International Day of Rural Women, a two-day festival combined with national conference began at the Lok Virsa Complex, Shakaraparian.

Honorary Ambassador for Empowerment of Women, Prime Minister s Secretariat, Syeda Fiza Gilani was the chief guest. The event organised by the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage (Lok Virsa), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Potohar Organization for Development Advocacy (PODA) in collaboration with other partner organizations.

The festivities included women artisans-at-work featuring female master artisans from different parts of the country, promotional stalls by NGOs working towards empowerment of women in Pakistan, a conference to focus on the women issues, audio visual presentations on women issues as well as a musical performance. A large number of people from different walks of life, in particular women thronged to the venue, expressed solidarity with the rural women and paid rich tributes to them for their untiring efforts and contribution in the development of the country.

Over 70 craftswomen in different specialized craft fields attended the handicraft exhibition organized on the occasion. Famous singers Arib Azhar and group and some other local artists also performed in a musical show held to mark the day and won a great applause from the audience.

Fiza Gilani said that women constitute 51 per cent of our total population and most of them live in villages and far-flung areas. No doubt, rural women contribute towards the development of the country and their contribution cannot be ignored.

In his welcome remarks, Lok Virsa s Executive Director Khalid Javaid said, Lok Virsa was the first national organization in Pakistan which stood behind PODA and supported them in organizing a number of cultural and promotional activities to mark the International Rural Women Day in a most befitting manner.

Chairperson PODA Sameena Nazir apprised the participants regarding the activities and functioning of her NGO. She said that this year, the theme of the conference is From food security to peace and security and this theme has been chosen to highlight the emerging food security challenges in Pakistan, especially in the post-flood context.

In his message for the day, Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani said, We salute the rural women of Pakistan on this day. Let us pause and think about the crucial roles rural women play in reducing poverty and hunger and contributing towards social stability in their communities.

Chairperson National Commission on the Status of Women Anis Haroon stressed that government should mobilize its resources and energies to transform the dream of empowering women and providing them equal opportunities in all walks of life into a reality.

Norwegian Ambassador to Pakistan Cecilie Landsverk in his message said, Any effort to addressing gender disparities around the world is one of the most effective ways to contribute to creating peaceful and just societies, and this conference is one such effort.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=72822&Cat=6

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