PAKISTAN: UNDP, government of Pakistan sign project for commission on women

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

ISLAMABAD, 14 Jun 2004 (IRIN) - A project signed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the government of Pakistan on Monday, which aims to strengthen the organisational capacity of a special government commission on women, has a "tall target" to meet but the commission's chairperson sees the contract as having a "great effect" on the work of the agency.

The project, worth 29.3 million rupees (US $525,947) and called "Institutional Strengthening of the National Commission on Status of Women (NCSW)", aims to help the NCSW achieve its objective of the emancipation of women, equalisation of opportunities and socio-economic conditions amongst women and men, and elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, a UNDP press release said.

"I'm very happy. I see a great effect of this contract on the work of the NCSW because it will strengthen the commission," Justice (retd) Majida Rizvi, the NCSW chairperson, told IRIN in the capital, Islamabad.

According to the UNDP press release, the project aims to help the NCSW in policy analysis, research and advocacy to enable it to implement its mandate as a policy review and recommending body in the area of gender equality.

Rizvi said the NCSW would be receiving professional input from four key professionals who would work with the commission for the two-year duration of the project. "We will be receiving four persons: one policy analyst, one research officer, one advocacy person and one who will coordinate the entire work and organise it," she explained.

"This will be strengthening the commission and we are very happy because we have been working on this project for quite some time," Rizvi added.

The project - which also aims to enhance the knowledge and capacity of individual NCSW members to address gender issues at all levels of governance - has a demanding objective, according to an official in UNDP's gender and governance unit. "It's got a tall target because we're also looking at the capacity-building of NCSW members," Rabia Khattak, a project officer in the unit, told IRIN in Islamabad.

"We're not only looking at the fact that we're going to be doing this for the commission, but we'll also be focusing on its members that are from various other institutions. So we'll also be looking to familiarise them with the work of the NCSW so that they can be effective members of this commission," she explained.

The project will also support the commission in the publication, dissemination and propagation of its research and studies which will review existing laws and public policy from a gender standpoint, the UNDP press release said.

Through its Gender Support Programme (GSP), UNDP will also assist and coordinate the efforts of donors and government agencies in extending technical and financial assistance to the commission, it added.

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