President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday said a one-time flood tax will have to be imposed on the well-to-do and people of means to help shore up the relief and rehabilitation efforts. Addressing a women roundtable meeting of federal ministers, women parliamentarians and representatives of non-governmental organisations for the flood victims here at Aiwan-e-Sadr, the President said.
"Unless we are prepared to share bread with our grief and disaster stricken brethren, we should not expect others to help us." He said he has already advised the government to tap indigenous resources wherever there is room for taping such resources, adding also that it should be done in a transparent and above board manner. The President also said that the entire aid received and disbursed will be done in a very transparent manner and every citizen will have access to information relating to the aid received and distributed.
Those who were present during the meeting included Speaker National Assembly Fehmida Mirza, Hina Rabbani Khar, Faryal Talpur, Mehreen Anwar Raja, Senator Sughra Imam, Senator Nilofar Bakhtiar, Asma Arbab Alamgir, Nafeesa Shah, Fouzia Wahab, Shahnaz Wazir Ali, representatives of NGOs, NDMA Chairman Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmad (Retd) and spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar.
The President said women's voices must be heard and their concerns must be taken into account in shaping any disaster response strategy. He said giving adequate representation to the women in all forums would help in understanding women and girls' specific needs and actions to be taken in this regard.
He said besides giving representation to women in all forums, a system needs to be evolved to inform and warn, in advance, the women and the children about the risks involved in case of non-evacuation of their areas during any natural disasters, on one hand, and to take care of their special needs during any such situation.
The President said the experience of earthquake 2005 indicates that women and children are the worst sufferers during natural calamities and in many cases the grave impact of natural disasters on women and children is not fully recognised. He said we all need to address the special nature of the issues of women victims of natural disasters. While focussing on provision of food, shelter, health, clean drinking water and sanitation facilities to the flood victims, we should also remember that the impact of disaster is much bigger for women and girls, the President said.
The President asserting that the women are most vulnerable in losing economic self-reliance due to natural calamities said that Benazir Income Support Programme should be used to address the women's economic needs in the crisis situation. The President urged all the stakeholders to ensure women's security in the relief camps besides ensuring safe transportation and privacy of spaces and the shelter for women. Stressing the need for adequate arrangements and urgent medical attention to women, the President observed that many Lady Health Workers were unable to perform their duties as they too were victims of flood disaster. He called upon all relevant departments to ensure that medical needs of women are met.
He said the government would ensure that women are protected from discrimination and exploitation at all times and during all stages of recovery and rehabilitation. He said the government needs support from all segments of society in this regard.-PR
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