Zubair Qureshi
The 10th edition of 3-day long ‘AuratHunarMela’ (National Women-at-Work Festival) is all set to showcase women’s work, products and services at the LokVirsa, Shakarparian, Islamabad from March 8. This is the annual flagship event of Devcom-Pakistan (Development Communications Network) to mark the UN’s International Women’s Day.
This year the event is being organized in collaboration with the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage (LokVirsa), Federal Ministry of National Heritage and Culture.
According to Devcom-Pakistan Executive Director Munir Ahmed over 100 marginalized communities and self-employed women will showcase their products, skills and services at the mega event.
These artisans, designers will be coming from far and wide of Pakistan such as northern parts including Chitral, Gilgit and Baltistan, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and South Punjab, he said terming the event in consonance with the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day that emphasizes “inspire inclusion.” Besides exhibition of their products, women folk singers will also perform during the three-day event starting from March 8 and paintings of women artists will also be put on display at the Heritage Museum Gallery at the LokVirsa.
A conference on CSR for Women Development will highlight the importance of the corporate sector’s initiatives for women development. Some of the best initiatives will be recognized with awards.
March 8 is a significant UN day dedicated to ensuring women’s rights, empowerment and mainstreaming of their work. The celebration of the Day has played a key role in the global growth of women’s rights campaigns, participation in the political and economic arenas and empowerment movement. The theme of 2024 International Women’s Day is an important day highlighting women’s struggle for justice, equality and fair play.
Aurat Hunnar Mela” (National Women-at-Work Festival) was founded in 2012 to celebrate women’s work to inspire more women to enter into different sectors with proactive approaches. This event especially includes, promotes and mainstream women’s human rights and economic empowerment, and the work of community women to strengthen their voices for social, economic and political participation.
This year, Devcom-Pakistan will launch awards to recognize, encourage and appreciate the corporate sector for their great work under their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for women development. The Devcom-Pakistan CSR Award for women development will include significant initiatives of the organizations in the corporate sector contributing to the women’s education, health and hygiene, food and nutrition, skills development, economic empowerment, and to ensuring the women friendly policies and practices with women’s internal engagement.
