Amraiz Khan
Special Assistant to Punjab Chief Minister (SACM) Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has stressed the need for engaging educated women in the economic development through their empowerment, arguing that half of the educated persons of the country are sitting at home and no state could afford wastage of such a great human resource.
This was stated by her while addressing the first international conference on social work titled “Contemporary Social Work Education & Practices: Challenges & Prospects” organized by Punjab University Department of Social Work here on Tuesday.
Punjab Minister for Human Rights Mr Ijaz Alam Augustine, PU Vice Chancellor Prof Niaz Ahmad, Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Saleem Mazhar, Department of Social Work Chairperson Prof Dr Syeda Mahnaz Hasan, faculty members and teachers participated in the event.
Eminent scientists in the field of social work from the United States, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Bangladesh and other countries participated in the conference through an online system.
Addressing the conference, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said that gone were the days when the wars were fought on the borders and now it was the era to fight wars on the fronts of economy and technology. She said that therefore we needed to encourage women and utilize their potential for the development of the economy of our country. She said that physical independence of any country was meaningless if she was not economically independent. She said that Pakistan could not prosper until we convert our challenges into opportunities.
The SACM said that Islam had presented a comprehensive charter of human rights for the first time. She said that Hazrat Muhammad (SAWW) introduced human rights to the world. She said that the social work was aimed at serving humanity irrespective of their religion, caste, beliefs, color, gender etc. She said that Islam strongly condemned extremism and terrorism.
She said that the people who worked for others live even after they die. She said that social workers played a role of facilitator in promotion of positivity and elimination of negativity. She said that social workers could create awareness among the masses on various important issues.
Dr Firdous announced to extend full support to the idea of Dr Mehnaz regarding the establishment of the Council of Social Work. She appreciated the role of PU VC and Dr Mehnaz for the social well-being of the society. She urged the students to follow the lesson of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah i.e. Unity, Faith Discipline in their lives. She expressed the hope that the PU Department of Social Work under the leadership of Prof Dr Mehnaz would set new trends in this field. She said that our problems would be solved when we would begin watching the national interest, instead of personal interest. She said that social work was her most favorite hobby.
Addressing the conference, Punjab Minister Ijaz Alam Augustine said that social work was the name of serving the ailing humanity and it played an important role in strengthening human relationships. He said that social work taught us to respect human beings and bring social change. He said that the Punjab government had taken several initiatives to improve the life standard of the people.
