ISLAMABAD: An internal conference on gender empowerment for the green economy, Tuesday, while unanimously adopting a 12-point Islamabad Declaration has affirmed their commitment to making all-out efforts and mobilising political will to address gender inequality and empower women to achieve green economy goals in Asian countries.
On the concluding day of the two-day event titled, “Regional Parliamentarians Conference on Gender Empowerment for a Green Economy” jointly organised by the Ministry of Climate Change, the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority, UN Fund for Population Activities, Pathfinder, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), and other international non-governmental organisations, the declaration was adopted.
Chair of the meeting and Coordinator to Prime Minister on Climate Change Romina Khurshid Alam, after the conclusion of the meeting of parliamentarians from different Asian countries, said, “Tackling causes of gender inequality and addressing them through political collaboration and cooperation among the parliamentarians of the Asian countries and development of regional policies and their implementation in true spirit is inevitable to boost women’s empowerment for achieving green economy goals.”
All participating parliamentarians from 20 Asian countries including Japan, Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Cambodia, Jordan, Mongolia, Maldives and Egypt reiterated their support for working together to improve socioeconomic empowerment in all spheres of life.
Addressing the event, Alam said, “It is deeply heartening to note that participating parliamentarians from the 20 Asian countries unanimously voted for the declaration, demonstrating political will and commitment of their respective governments to implement it in letter and spirit for enhancing women’s empowerment in, among others, education, health, energy, water, agriculture, technology, research and industrial sectors for achieving the green economy goals.”
She warned that without achieving women’s empowerment and addressing gender equality in Asian countries, which are extremely vulnerable to climate risks, achieving the green economy goals was not possible.
Speaking on the occasion, Egypt’s Member of the Parliament, Dr Abdel Hady El Kasaby said gender inequality and the environmental crisis were the two greatest challenges to sustainable development, whereas, effective participation and leadership of women and girls in the development of environmental and disaster risk reduction policies should be promoted to ensure effective response.
Member of the Parliament, Laos PDR, Valy Vetsaphong, while chairing the session, highlighted the significance of women empowerment and the leadership role of females in all spheres to achieve sustainable development goals. She extended her gratitude to all the participants for their active engagement during the discussion.
Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI)Executive Director Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri, speaking on the occasion, said women were disproportionately affected during climate catastrophes and man-made disasters where they not only lost their livelihoods but also their prospects of being working women.
He said at present, Pakistan facing three key challenges about gender parity and women's empowerment mainly the lack of role of women as policymakers, decision makers and ownership, no baseline data on gender and women's education to enable them as change makers.
In the case of Pakistan, he said segregated data on climate change impacts on gender did not exist, whereas, without baseline data it would be difficult to take any policy action for the betterment of women. “Gendered allocation of resources in budgets to empower women does not exist. As the finance minister may allocate billions of rupees for development but one needs to understand the peculiar needs of women as per their requirement,” Dr Suleri underlined.
He noted that the floods of 2022 in Pakistan were a glaring example showing women being disproportionately affected by the gigantic catastrophe.
Dr Suleri emphasised that since the role of women as part of the empowerment agenda was missing, whereas, gender responsive policies could only be framed amid data, adding, “The decision makers and the Planning Commission and Pakistan Bureau of Statistics need to ensure data to guide policies.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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