Agreement Signed between UN Women & Swiss Development Cooperation for Enhancing Capacity of the Women Parliamentary Caucus of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

[Press Release]

Peshawar, Pakistan — The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the Swiss Development Corporation (SDC) today signed a one-year partnership agreement to enhance the capacity of the Women Parliamentary Caucus (WPC) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to integrate a gender perspective in new provincial laws and policies and review of existing legislation.

Ms. Stefanie Burri, Head of Cooperation SDC , shares her remarks during the signing ceremony. Photo: UN Women/Saeed Khan

Through this project “Capacity Enhancement of the Women Parliamentary Caucus of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for Gender Integration in Provincial Laws”, Members of the WPC-KP will be able to identify and reflect on the principles of gender equality and gender mainstreaming in legislative reviews and propose inclusions and/or amendments thus ensuring ‘gender’ principles are reflected. Additionally, the WPC-KP will seek to guide and assist legislators, policy-makers and other key partners to analyze and interpret legislation through a gender lens.

The project agreement was signed by Ms. Stefanie Burri (Head of Cooperation, SDC) and Mr. Jamshed Kazi (Country Representative, UN Women Pakistan)

Speaking during the signing ceremony, Mr. Jamshed Kazi shared “Today’s project signing will give new impetus to our efforts to integrate the rights of women and gender justice elements in the laws and policies of the province. UN Women has a strategic interest in the stability, prosperity and capacity development of Women Parliamentary Caucus of KP. This initiative will support Members of WPC-KP to undertake research and propose gender-responsive laws and policies which will bring a positive change in the lives of the women, girls and the vulnerable segments of society.”

Ms. Stefanie Burri expressed that “The Swiss Development Cooperation, as part of the Swiss Embassy, is very glad to support the important work of the Women Parliamentarians in KP through UN Women. SDC considers access to knowledge and information and strong institutions as crucial for participation in the opinion building processes. SDC responds to KP government appeal to support laws and their implementation which special focus on women and children. SDC is looking forward to achieve quick and sustainable results. This will require hard work from all the stake holders, putting our ‘hands and energies’ together.

Ms. Meraj Humayun (Chairperson, WPC-KP) welcomed support from UN Women and SDC for strengthening the WPC in KP and said “This project will also enhance coordination amongst women parliamentarians and build consensus on gender priorities across party lines.” She also expressed interest in collaborating with civil society for advancement of the gender equality agenda in KP.

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Photos: UN Women/Saeed Khan