ISLAMABAD, Dec 01 (APP): The Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (WPC) of the National Assembly held a Thought Leadership Workshop, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), here on Sunday to empower the women MNAs with skills in social media management, combating misinformation and promoting women’s empowerment in a secure digital environment.
Led by Secretary Dr. Shahida Rehmani, MNA, the workshop also emphasized protecting women’s physical, legal and social safety while addressing harassment in all its forms.
The Thought Leadership Workshop began with welcome remarks and a keynote address by Secretary WPC/MNA Dr. Shahida Rehmani. She thanked the women parliamentarians for their participation, highlighted WPC’s legislative achievements in protecting women from harassment, gender-based violence, and discrimination, and emphasized the need for collective efforts to promote digital democracy.
Dr. Rehmani also urged participants to effectively use parliamentary tools for better representation of women and to leverage social and electronic media to advance women’s well-being.
The workshop witnessed meaningful participation from women parliamentarians belonging to all the political parties of the Federal and Provincial legislatures. The women parliamentarians from all the political parties unanimously agreed upon the issues of lack of women participation in politics and legislatures as they aren’t given a fair share of party tickets in general elections and their struggles & achievements for women empowerment are not properly recognized. Another issue highlighted by the women parliamentarians was the undermining of the treatment faced by the women parliamentarians, holding reserved seats, as political workers, political leaders and as parliamentarians.
The first session of the workshop, titled “Women in Politics: Achievements, Gaps, and Strategies for Electoral Participation”, delivered by Constitutional Expert Zafarullah Khan, explored the political landscape for women and provided strategies for enhancing electoral participation. In the subsequent focused group discussions, women parliamentarians from federal and provincial legislatures shared personal experiences and anecdotes, strengthening their problem-solving and advocacy skills. Session 2, titled “Ethical Parliamentary Behaviour: Preventing Harassment & Promoting Respect Across Parties”, was conducted by Parliamentary Affairs Expert Ms. Muneeze Hashmi. Ms. Hashmi emphasized the importance of creating a nucleus group to proactively address urgent violations of women’s rights within parliamentary circles. Session 3, on “Building Legislative Capacities & Needs Assessment”, was conducted by Former MNA Ms. Yasmeen Rehman. She discussed the significance of timely information delivery to women parliamentarians, particularly during the Budget Session, and highlighted other critical needs to support their legislative work. A focused group discussion led by Mukhtar Ahmad, CEO of CPDI, further enhanced the participants’ ability to identify and solve legislative challenges. The final session, “Effective Parliamentary Communication & Presentation”, was led by veteran Journalist Azaz Syed. He addressed the negative impacts of political polarization and populism on democratic processes, offering strategies to navigate these issues through effective communication and media handling.
The Workshop concluded with a group photo, where federal and provincial women parliamentarians paid tribute to Pakistan’s pioneering women political leaders ,who dedicated their lives for the cause of empowerment of women and to safeguard their rights. This Thought Leadership Workshop marks a significant step in empowering women parliamentarians to lead effectively and advocate for positive change in the social & political spheres.
