“I think we should be celebrating women’s day every day,” said mountaineer Samina Baig. She said that even though her home town in a remote part of Gilgit-Baltistan didn’t have many facilities, there was education for all. “That is what gives us the strength to realise our dreams. “If you trust women, give them opportunities, then they can do anything; even climb Mount Everest.”
Meanwhile, at the ‘Women in the Media’ roundtable – held at the United Nations Information Centre – journalist Myra Imran complained that women often leave journalism because the work environment and the mindsets of their colleagues push them away.
Pointing to the systemic problems within society’s perception of women in the public eye, anchorperson Fereeha Idrees said, “There is a scary misogynistic approach rampantly prevalent in our country against empowered women like Malala, Sharmeen and anyone who stands up to defend them. We must make a resolve to curb these.”
UN-Habitat representative Bella Evidente insisted that equal representation in every profession and within households was the right of every woman, not a privilege. “In Pakistan, there are very few women in decision-making positions and this has to change. There should be a watchdog that monitors the progress and actions taken to improve women’s representation.”
Separately, at ‘Women in Public Life: Breaking the Barriers’, a conference organised by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, participants adopted a resolution calling on the state to ensure due representation for women in public institutions, government bodies and committees, as well as public administrative entities and the judiciary.
The resolution called for a transparent criterion of appointments to decision-making positions to ensure that the selectors are gender-balanced as well.
Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2016