International Women’s Day (IWD) celebrated on the 8th of March every year, the day is dedicated to honoring the achievements and contribution of women in the various fields all over the world, and also reflects upon what more needs to be done to accelerate efforts for the gender equality and women’s rights.
This year, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Pakistan joined hands with the Women Development Department (WDD), the Government of the Punjab and brought together a diverse group of Pakistani women to celebrate their remarkable achievements in social, economic, cultural and various fields of life.
The inspiring event was held on 8 March in Lahore which attended by parliamentarians, heads of diplomatic missions, government officials, representatives from development organizations, private sector, UN agencies and media. Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, attended the event as the Key Note Speaker.
Speaking to the occasion, Ms Ambreen Raza, Secretary, Women Development Department shared the progress of WDD since its inception in 2012.
She said, WDD is working closely with UNFPA to address gender-based violence by working towards multi-sectoral mechanism, the coordination mechanism would identify and evaluate the essential services to be delivered by key sectors i.e. health, social services, police, justice and governance. Ms Raza said, the platform will have representatives from each sector to promote coordination and reflection based on the experiences from the field and guide policy and advocacy actions to be promoted within and across the sectors. Ms Raza further added, the Women Development Department is committed to support the implementation of the Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act 2010 within government departments while working with Ombudsperson offices and other relevant departments.
