The speakers in the consultation organized by the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) on Wednesday agreed that promoting gender equality to address poverty, requires a multifaceted approach that tackles the root causes and empowers both men and women.
The participants raised gender issues and poverty with a focus on the economic empowerment of women and the eradication of poverty. They submitted a set of recommendations that included education and skill development with Equal Employment Opportunities for all and especially women and girls, enforcement of anti-discrimination laws and policies in the workplace.
NCSW consulted with provincial stakeholders on the preparation of the National Report on “Need Analysis for Financing and Strengthening Institutions with Gender Perspective for the Empowerment of Women and Girls” to be presented by the Commission in the 68th Session of the UN-Commission on the Status of Women, said a news release.
The consultation was attended by the representatives from all consortium Partners including Civil Society Organizations, youth, academia, media partners gender experts, representatives from government departments, civil society organizations, NGOs, and media houses. The theme of the sixty-eighth session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women that will take place from March 11 to 22, 2024 is “achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective.”
The subject consultation by NCSW in partnership Consortium members UNWOMEN, UNICEF, UNDP and UNFPA was the concluding consultation in a series of dialogues conducted in Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu, and Kashmir. Chairperson NCSW Nilofar Bakhtiar extended gratitude to the consortium partners for their continued encouragement of the NCSW and Consortium’s pre-CSW consultations. As that is the overarching topic of CSW 68.
She maintained that we look forward to working toward inclusive and sustainable remedies for gender-related challenges with a particular focus on economic empowerment.