The Women Institute of Learning and Leadership (WILL) in collaboration with the University of Management and Technology (UMT) and the Association of Management Development Institution in Pakistan (AMDIP) organised the 1st two days international conference on ‘Diversity and Social Inclusion: A Way Forward for Institutional Reforms’ at UMT. Renowned national and international Ph.D scholars attended the conference.
Women Institute of Learning and Leadership (WILL) Chairperson Ms Maryam Nur Murad inaugurated the conference along with UMT President Ibrahim Hassan Murad, former Senate chairman Senate Raza Rabbani, Advisor to Chief Minister Dr Salman Shah, MNA Dr Nafisa Shah, international security analyst and journalist Nasim Zehra, Dr Naushaba Hassan, UMT Rector Professor Dr Muhammad Aslam and UMT Director General Abid HK Sherwani.
More than 40 national and international Ph.D scholars, intellectuals, researchers and experts including Kalyan Singh Kalyan, Dr Alexander J Malik, Arya Indiras, Ghulam Mustafa, Dr Arfa Syeda Zahra, Naeem Tahir and many others participated in the conference where sessions were conducted and 40 thought provoking scientific research papers were presented on diversity and social inclusion.
In her opening remarks WILL Chairperson Ms Maryam Nur Murad warmly welcomed the guests and speakers and highlighted the multiple issues faced by society in the domain of diversity and social inclusion. She told that this conference will connect renowned practitioners, social institutions, professional experts and religious scholars to the civil society with their latest teachings and research to find the solutions faced by our society. She stated that we were having diverse cultures in our society, so we should bring them all at one platform and provide them advance quality education because education is the best tools which can play vital role in the development of society.
Advisor to Chief Minister Dr Salman Shah congratulated Ms Maryam Murad on holding such effective conference.
He talked about diversity as an entity leads to conflict and if it becomes inclusive, it can lead to positive changes. He added that we should include the minorities not exclude them because we should stand united to overcome the issues and challenges faced by our society.
Former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani appreciated the efforts of UMT and WILL for organising such fruitful conference. Rabbani said that world was full of diverse cultures and religions. We should gather them under the umbrella of humanity and abide by universal human laws. We should provide them all equal rights and opportunity, he told. He also stated that women should also be empowered and provided quality education because women have essential value in our society as they were the keepers of our youth.
MNA Dr Nafisa Shah said that our youth was the best tool which can be helpful in resolving the issue of diversity. The minorities should be given equal rights in every society as they are also human being. Races system should be totally removed from everywhere. Facilities should not be distributed on the basis of colour, gender, cast and religion. Law and social luxuries should be equal for everyone.
UMT President Ibrahim Hassan Murad shared his thoughts and said that the main purpose of the conference was to do focused research and find solutions for the challenges faced by all the civilisations across the globe on the diversity and inclusivity, discrimination on ethnicity and discernment faced by humans on socio-culture basis.
Naseem Zahra Senior Journalist and International Security Analyst focused on diversity in conflict management, where she put forth the fact that diversity emerges first as a general factor and then as a divisive factor, arising due to poor governance.–PR
