Women MPs Afghan, Pakistani and British women parliamentarians, for redressal of girl education

ISLAMABAD (Online): Afghan, Pakistani and British women parliamentarians, Thursday, joined their vioces for strict measures to address challenges of girl education, maternal health, peace and security. Women MPs from three countries on the platform organized by the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (WPC) in partnership with CPA UK initiated a series of dialogues for Women Parliamentarians on topical issues.
Initiated in 2012 with a trilogue between Afghanistan, Pakistan and UK Parliamentarians in London, this is a third of the series. The topic of current three day dialogue is regarding maternal health and education. A five member women Parliamentary delegation from the UK headed by Lord Speaker H.E Baroness D’Souza, and a three member delegation from Afghanistan arrived in Islamabad to attend the dialogues starting 20th to 22nd February 2014. Organized at the premises of Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Services, Islamabad the inaugural session was chaired by former Speaker National Assembly and Patron of the WPC Dr.Fehmida Mirza.

In her welcome address, Dr. Mirza praised the joint efforts of the women parliamentarians in focusing on critical issues of common concern. She recalled the historic references of women’s active participation in freedom movements and economic uplift of Europe after the second world war and noted that no nation could progress without the active participation of its women.
Dr. Mirza emphasized on creating synergies to highlight girl education, maternal and child health and said that these held great importance for the Region which was marred by terrorism and sabotage. In her remarks, Tte Lord Speaker Baroness D’Souza thanked the Pakistani hosts for arranging the third round of meetings. She said that the inception of WPC was a hallmark and a role model for other Parliaments to follow suit.
These were followed by presentations from MNA Shaista Malik, the Secretary of the Caucus and Maryam Aurangzeb, the Parliamentary Secretary of Interiors, who focused on the working of the Caucus and the pace of MDG in Pakistan respectively. Others who participated in the discussions included Senator RubinaRauf Khalid, NuzhatSadiq, Baroness Royall, Sharon Hodgson MP, Afghan MP FarkhundaNadri and KhawarMumtaz, besides others. The consultations meetings will continue till 22nd February and will comprise of Parliamentarians, social activists and policy makers to present and share their thoughts.

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