PILDAT held a one-day briefing session on The Status of Implementation of International Agreements on Women in Pakistan on Monday March 29th, 2004 at Serena Hotel, Islamabad. The briefing session was held to enhance the knowledge of parliamentarians by providing an overview of relevant perspectives on the significance of the International Agreements on Women. Our aim was to provide parliamentarians a better understanding of the International Agreements related issues to promote more pro active Assembly debates and effective legislation

The briefing session was attended by 21 MNAs, 3 Senators and parliamentarians and 9 other participants. Ms. Nilofar Bakhtiar, Advisor to PM on Women Development presided over Session One while Justice (Retd.) Majida Razvi, Dr. Farzana Bari and Professor Khurshid Ahmed spoke on the Status of Women: International, Regional and Local Perspectives. Mr. Syrus Qazi, Senior Technical Advisor, Ministry of Women Development, Social Welfare & Special Education followed with a PowerPoint presentation on International Agreements and Treaties signed by Pakistan.

Senator S.M Zafar presided over the second session that included a panel discussion on A Critical Review of Government of Pakistan�s commitment to implementing international agreements on Women. The five members on the panel discussion included Ms. Fauzia Wahab, MNA, Ms. Farida Shaheed, Coordinator Shirkatgah, Dr. Iftikhar-un-Nissa Hassan, Director Women Resource and Research Center, Fatima Jinnah University, and Mr. Kunwar Khalid Yunus, Member of the National Assembly. Both sessions were followed by an active Q&A session that provided a forum for debate and exchange of relevant ideas between speakers and the participating audience. The session proceedings were conducted in both Urdu and English.

Photographs and proceedings of the event will be uploaded here soon. Keep watching this space for updates regarding this event.