We will make sure that those who wish to harm the ideology of Quaid-e-Azam, which was for equality, for men and women, shall not succeed," said the President. He was addressing a gathering of women from different walks of life, after signing the historic legislation here at the President House. The President promised in the name of Benazir Bhutto, "We shall do our utmost by the end of this tenure, and all the rights, that we enjoy as men shall be enjoyed by women as well."
The President recalled the commitment made by the Shaheed Benazir at the Beijing Conference and in the CEDAW document, and urged the government to seek guidance from her vision to achieve gender equality. "My wife was much stronger than me, even today she left a legacy for us to follow, even, she is guiding us from her grave," he added.
He said history might mention him as a person who was "living a woman's dream." It was her dream that a women in power would bring in the soft touch that the world needs amidst too much horror and said "what we need to emulate is gentleness, perseverance and the quality to bear pain." "Let us mobilise the collective power of women to help make our country, the region and the world more tolerant and secure for all," the President said amidst a loud applause.
The enactment of the Protection Against Harassment of Women Bill 2010 aims at creating a safe working environment for women, which is free from harassment, abuse and intimidation, he added. Zardari appreciated all those who showed a broad-based support to the bill during their deliberations in both the houses. He also noted the support to the bill by various citizen forums and appreciated them for working with the government to achieve this common goal and attributed it to the struggle of the women for their rights and equal opportunities.
Zardari earlier signed a bill on January 29 to uphold the dignity of women, as their basic right and to seek an end to violence. The bill aims at making women feel safe both in private and public spheres, while the other bill that he signed on Tuesday aims at providing mechanism for addressing complaints of harassment. "On this occasion I urge all ministries to get going and adopt the Code of Conduct within a month, as laid down in this Act," the President directed. "I also urge the private sector to co-operate in the implementation of this Act, in letter and spirit," he added.
The present government has taken a number of measures for improving the lot of women including the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), provision of state lands in the command areas of the 13 new dams for poor women, creation of office of Women Ombudsman, increase in job quota for women in central and provincial departments.
The bill requires all public and private organisations to adopt an internal Code of Conduct and complain or appeals mechanism aimed at establishing a safe working environment, free of intimidation and abuse, for all working women. Under the bill each organisation shall constitute an Inquiry Committee, comprising of three members - including one female member, within 30 days to enquire into complaints.
Upon receiving a written complaint, the inquiry committee would give the accused a formal written receipt of the charges and statement of allegations levelled against him within three days. The Inquiry Committee shall have power to regulate its own procedure for conducting an inquiry and for fixing the place and time of its sittings.
The event was attended by Minister for Information Qamar Zaman Kaira, Minister of State for Finance Hina Rabbani Khar, Minister of State for Religious Affairs Shagufta Jamani, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Social Sector Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Chairperson Benazir Income Support Programme, Farzana Raja, Advisor to Prime Minister on IT Latif Khosa.-PR