UNITED NATIONS, Mar 10 (APP): Pakistan remains committed to empower women in all walks of life; Ambassador Munir Akram told a virtual event held to celebrate the achievements of Pakistani women in leadership at the United Nations.
“We are proud that today Pakistan’s women participate in every facet of public life,” the Pakistani envoy said in his opening remarks at the event organized by Pakistan’s Permanent Mission to the UN in commemoration of the International Women’s Day.
“Despite challenges,” he said, “Pakistan is a strong country and a resilient nation because of the power of empowered women, who break glass ceiling in all fields and have become agents of change.”
The UN Under-Secretary General for Global Communication, Ms. Melissa Fleming, was the chief guest at the event in which permanent representatives of different countries also participated as also Pakistani women leaders.
In his remarks, Ambassador Akram said Pakistan had ensured empowerment of women in the economic, social, and political spheres in line with its commitment to the women.
“They have held prominent positions, including as Prime Minister, Governor of State Bank of Pakistan, Speaker of National Assembly, judge of Supreme Court of Pakistan, Chief Justice of High Court, and important portfolios in the Cabinet, as well as served as federal and provincial secretaries, district commissioners and district police officers, generals, fighter pilots and UN Peacekeepers,” he said.
Pakistani women in diplomacy, he said, were representing Pakistan across the world with dynamism, and pointed out that currently, 22.64% of Pakistan’s diplomats were women, including several serving ambassadors. “Our women diplomats at the United Nations continue to advance Pakistan’s foreign policy objectives through their hard work and dedication.”
At the multilateral fora, Ambassador Akram said the Pakistani women had always kept Pakistan’s flag high, and at the UN, they were working in different entities at the UN Headquarters and in field missions with distinction.
Pakistani women peacekeepers are providing assistance in conflict and post-conflict situations, and inspiring women around the globe, he said.
Pakistan became the first country to achieve the goal of deployment of 15 per cent female staff officers as nearly 450 women had served in the UN missions. Pakistan also achieved 50 percent female participation across community engagement platoons in the UN peacekeeping missions.
The first Pakistani Female Engagement Team (FET) was deployed in South Kivu (Democratic Republic of Congo) in June 2019, with a team of 15 women, who provided a range of resources to the region, the Pakistani envoy said. They were psychologists, stress counselors, vocational training officers, gender advisors, doctors, nurses, operations officers, information officers, and logistics officers.
The team was the first-ever all-female team in any United Nations (UN) mission around the world and received UN medals for serving in the Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), he pointed out.
In 2021, he said, Ms Helena Iqbal from Pakistan Police was appointed as police commissioner for the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS). Earlier, Ms Shahzadi Gulfam of Pakistan Police received the first-ever International Female Police Peacekeeper Award in 2011.
“These women are symbols of courage, selfless commitment, and professional excellence, which are the hallmarks of Pakistani women,” Ambassador Akram said.
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