22-23 December 2022 – WPC Office, Parliament House, Islamabad – A delegation of Deputy Speaker and Women Legislators from the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Assembly visited WPC Secretariat for a two-days lesson-sharing session on working of the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus. The objective of this visit was to learn from WPC’s best practices and have an interactive session with WPC Members for the successful establishment of such a forum for GB Assembly Women Legislators.
On Day one of their visit, they were briefed by Secretary WPC Ms. Shahida Rehmani on the performance and achievements of WPC. Furthermore, Additional Secretary Special Initiatives Mr. Shamoon Hashmi briefed the delegation on the importance of consensus building among Legislators regardless of their party affiliations for a successful cross-party forum. He highlighted the importance of connecting academia, Civil Society Organizations and Legislators for evidence-based legislation and policy interventions for marginalized women.
Hon’ble Deputy Speaker GB Assembly Mr. Nazir Ahmed acknowledged the challenges Women Legislators face in his Assembly and assured them of his full support. He reiterated that providing safe working environment to women is the responsibility of men if they want to see their women empowered in true sense.
WPC Members and Delegation of GB Assembly Members passed a joint Resolution to commemorate National Working Women’s Day with an objective to eradicate all forms of social, economic, and political discrimination against women. They pledged to work dedicatedly towards emancipating their women for a gender equal Pakistan.
On Day Two of their visit, WPC organized a Workshop for GB Assembly Members. WPC team gave a detailed presentation on working and structure of Women’s Parliamentary Caucus. They had an interactive session with WPC Members and team where their questions were effectively addressed. Future areas of collaboration were also discussed.
In the end, Secretary WPC Ms. Shahida Rehmani distributed shields among GB Assembly Members and assured them of full support from WPC.
