LAHORE: Women leaders on Wednesday demanded that the government provide water and hygiene facilities for girls in primary, middle and high schools of rural areas of the province because a large number of female students were forced to discontinue education due to lack of these facilities.

Potohar Organisation for Development Advocacy (PODA) funded by WaterAid Pakistan jointly organised a consultation workshop on “Advancing gender-responsive, inclusive and climate-resilient approaches in legal and policy frameworks and promoting women’s leadership in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH)” at Flaetti’s Hotel.

The consultation was attended by legislators, lawyers, women with disabilities, officials from different provincial departments including literacy, education, health, environment, water management and civil society members and rural women from Bahawalpur, Chakwal, Multan, Pakpattan, rural Lahore and Rawalpindi.

PODA Director Sameena Nazir said the government and civil society must take concrete steps to provide safe water, sanitation and hygiene facilities to girls in schools and women in offices and public buildings.

PML-N’s Sajida Farooq Tarrar said the government was preparing a comprehensive action plan to provide WASH facilities in girls’ schools in the province especially in rural areas.

MPA Uzma Kardar emphasised the essential role of women in water management and household sanitation, calling for greater community engagement to address WASH-related challenges.

She said as legislator, she is always working to ensure that our laws and policies are enforced to ensure provision of constitutional rights to all women and girls.

Former MPA Shamila Aslam said women of Pakistan are leading in many fields but still there is a need to ensure that the government departments and private sector appoint women in executive positions and boards and as ministers for gender integration.

She said all great leaders took special measures to highlight that consultation and leadership of women is the key to success such as Quaid-i-Azam and his sister Fatima Jinnah worked together and Zulfikar Bhutto taught leadership qualities to his daughter Benazir Bhutto and the most recent PML-N leadership supported to make Maryam Nawaz as chief minister of Punjab.

She added that women are custodians of water in the house and agriculture in our villages so their opinions must be sought while making water and climate policies and implementation mechanisms and policy makers and academia should consult rural women for policy making.

WaterAid Pakistan Gender Adviser Raheema Panhwar emphasised the need to prioritise gender equality and social inclusion in WASH financing.

She highlighted that in order to create sustainable change, WASH budgets must reflect the needs of marginalised communities, particularly women and those living in poverty, and strengthen accountability to ensure investments reach those most in need.”

She said that by prioritising women’s leadership and integrating gender equality into WASH policies, meaningful and inclusive progress can be made.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2025