By APP
Islamabad : International Women’s Day will be marked tomorrow (March 8) throughout the world including Pakistan with specific focus on investing in the development of girls and women.
Various programmes including seminars, debates and walks will be organized to mark the day to acknowledge women’s achievements.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in his message on International Women’s Day urged the need to create mechanisms for tracking investments in gender equality.
The message said the 10-year review of the implementation of Beijing Platform for Action revealed a serious gap between policy and practice in many countries. A lack of political will is reflected resulting in lack of resources and insufficient budgetary allocations.
Investing in women and girls has a multiplier effect on productivity and sustained economic growth. No measure is more important in advancing education and health, including the prevention of HIV/AIDS. No other policy is as likely to improve nutrition, or reduce infant and maternal mortality.
Financial resources have been mobilized in increasing women’s employment, enhancing the role of microfinance, advancing credit for enterprises for women, and driving public finance reforms. More than 50 countries have launched gender-responsive budgeting initiatives.
“In the United Nations family too, we need to better match demands with resources. The resources available for gender mainstreaming must be made more sustainable and predictable particularly at the regional and country levels,” the message said.
Mobilizing forces of change at global level and inspiring enhanced results at country level would better advance the cause to empower women and realize gender equality worldwide.