Advisor to Prime Minister on finance and revenue Dr Salman Shah has said that government has made all necessary arrangements to sustain the growth rate of above 8 percent.
He was speaking at the inaugural session of 3-day conference organised by Sustainable Development and Policy Institute (SDPI) here on Wednesday.
Dr Salman said the government has introduced the concept of sustainable development in all major policy documents, which would be strictly followed.
He said the government was working towards gender equality by involving women in every field of economic activity on an equal footing.
SDPI chairperson Saba Gul Khattak shared how the Institute had followed a decentralised approach.
"The conference revolves around six themes instead of one overarching central one discussing women's and gender issues in several contexts to try to make sense of the international system, the opportunities and challenges presented by WTO, poverty and child labour, livelihoods and security as well as people's rights and issues of peace at the national, regional and international levels," she said.
SDPI Board of Governors Chairman, Shamsul Mulk gave an overview of the institute's work and a brief historical background of the conference series.
In the session on 'Earthquake: Injuries, Disabilities, Traumas and Rehabilitation', Dr Shafqat Shehzad of SDPI disclosed that around 75 percent of the international donations for the recent earthquake were loans.
She said out of 564 health care facilities in the quake-hit areas, 74 were partially and 299 completely destroyed, leaving 199 functional only.
Muhammad Sabir from UNDP while presenting his paper emphasised the need of mainstreaming gender into all stages of the budget cycle.
Dr Tayyab Tahir from Cardiff University, UK, stressed that women and children were most affected in the quake and suggested long-term counselling and pension for the disabled women.
Dr Najma Najam of Fatima Jinnah Women University emphasised that counselling workshops should also be conducted in rural areas.
The session on 'Health Service Delivery' proposed that the government should involve the private sector in the health care delivery as money alone cannot meet the targets set in the MDGs.
Dr Hans Frey from BHEF presented a model of using information communication technology in providing health care services.
On the panel titled 'Displacement, Livelihoods and Rights: Gendered Experiences,' Dr Sania Nishter discussed the impact of transnational corporations on peasant women; linkages between gender discrimination and women's trafficking; and the future of Afghans in Pakistan with a particular focus on the vulnerabilities of women.
Azra Talat Syed talked about the onslaught of globalisation and the resultant trade liberalisation and WTO-related policies in the agriculture sector.
She recommended people's ownership over means of production as the only viable solution to the problem.
Zia Awan while making linkages between violence against women and trafficking talked about socio-customary practices where women are treated as commodities.
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