KP government committed to ending violence against women in province
Date:
[Press release]
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Peshawar, Pakistan — Advisor to Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on InformationTechnology Zia Ullah Bangash along with members of Women Parliamentary Caucus KP (WPC-KP) on Thursday unveiled theCode of Conduct for Protection of Women against Harassment at Workplace displayed at the Provincial Assembly KP toexpress commitment for fighting harassment and violence against women. The Advisor and WPC members on the occasionsaid that the KP government was committed to take all necessary actions and accelerate efforts to end all forms ofgender-based violence (GBV) in the province. The event was organized at the Provincial Assembly to mark thecommencement of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign at provincial level. The building ofthe Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was also illuminated in orange to express solidarity with the globalcampaign. The event was jointly organized by WPC-KP, Office of the Ombudsperson KP and UN Women.
The 16 Days of Activism against GBV is a global campaign that takes place each year from 25th of November, theInternational Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10th of December, International Human RightsDay, indicating that violence against women is the most pervasive violation of human rights worldwide.
Given the current COVID-19 pandemic situation, this year’s theme for the 16 Days of Activism against GBV is“Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!” that call for global actions to bridge funding gaps, ensure essentialservices for survivors of violence during the COVID-19 crisis, focus on prevention, and collection of data that canimprove life-saving services for women and girls.
During the event, WPC-KP also presented a resolution to the Speaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly for re-emphasizingthe importance and need for collaborative efforts to deal with the issue of violence against women and girls in theprovince.
“This gesture of displaying the Code of Conduct in the Provincial Assembly sends out a strong message that ourlegislators are committed to ensure compliance of laws against harassment and deal with this issue at alllevels,” said Rukhshanda Naz, Ombudsperson KP, while underlining government’s commitment for ensuringthe implementation of the Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2010.
Zainab Qaisar Khan, Head of Provincial Office UN Women, in her remarks said that the 16 Days Campaign has been usedas an organized strategy for raising awareness about gender-based violence as a human rights issue at the local,national, regional and international levels. She thanked the parliamentarians and government partners forreiterating their commitment to tackle the issue of GBV head-on and advancing gender equality in the province.“UN Women stands committed to work with all partners to achieve this goal and contribute to the sustainabledevelopment agenda,” she remarked.