By NNN-APP,
Washington : The elected Pakistani government is firmly committed to women’s empowerment and taking a number of steps to realize their full participation in national development, Member National Assembly Farahnaz Isphahani said.
Speaking at a reception she hosted at Pakistani Ambassador’s residence in honor of women ambassadors and wives of Washington-based diplomats from various countries, the parliamentarian said the government is particularly focused on realizing women’s access to education all over the country.
She informed the gathering that the democratic leadership assigns a high priority to protection and promotion of women’s rights in line with vision of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.
“The government headed by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani believes that human resource development and economic empowerment of women, who constitute half of the country’s population, is critical to Pakistan’s future development as well as curbing its current challenges,” she said.
Besides development of economic opportunities for women at grass roots level, the government has ensured their participation in mainstream political system, she said. In this respect, she cited that for the first time the elected national assembly has a woman as its speaker.
Ambassador of Bahrain, Huda Nunu, Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago Glenda Jackson, Ambassador of Oaman, and wives of ambassadors from several countries including Saudi Arabia, Libya, Bangladesh, Egypt, Arab League and Turkey and Washington-based women rights leaders attended the reception.