FEM Consortia Aims To Promote Women’s Rights, Gender Equality

News Desk

Lahore: The provincial launch of the FEM Consortia is a significant step in the advocacy and promotion of women’s rights and gender equality in Pakistan.

Women in Struggle for Empowerment (WISE) Executive Director Bushra Khaliq said that it reflects a collaborative and coordinated approach to addressing the multifaceted challenges faced by women in different regions of the country.

Executive Director explained that by forming this alliance, these organizations can pool their resources, knowledge, and expertise to address women’s rights issues more effectively. They can collaborate on advocacy, research, capacity-building and community outreach programs, she further added.

FEM Consortia is an alliance comprising 12 women’s rights organizations that have come together to collaborate and work collectively on various issues affecting women in Pakistan.

It is an outcome of the Women’s Voice and Leadership Project, where 12 women’s rights organizations (WROs) across four provinces of Pakistan feel committed to continuing their collective struggle for women’s rights.

Khaliq informed that the thematic areas of consortia are girls’ children, working women and women in politics. Girls’ education, early child forced marriages, and economic gender-based violence (GBV) against women in politics will be highlighted by consortiums.

Bushra added that constitutional protection should be given to local governance so that women’s leadership can come forward.

Constitution and Democracy Expert Zafarullah Khan opined that early marriages should be stopped so that they could complete their education. Laws for women’s rights have been made by the government but their implementation is needed.

Khan further added that the institutions and law should be pro-women.

Government of Punjab Women Development Department Assistant Director Sahar Shafique mentioned that workshops on GBV were held so that recommendations could be sent to the Chief Secretary.

Punjab Women Ombudsperson Nabila Hakim asserted that we should provide our women with a friendly environment at work and demanded that proportional representation be given to women so that democracy could be made inclusive.

Nabila informed that the offices of harassment at work are functional in every region and employees could submit their complaints. Culprits would be made accountable; it does not matter how powerful the accused is. As we receive complaints, we move forward so that the workplace can be made friendly, she added.

The FEM Consortia is expected to engage in advocacy efforts to advance women’s rights in Pakistan. This may include lobbying for policy changes, promoting legal reforms, and raising awareness about issues such as gender-based violence, education, healthcare, and economic empowerment.

It will likely establish mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating the impact of their programs and initiatives to ensure they are effectively promoting women’s rights and gender equality.