Mirpur (AJK): Minister for Youth, Sports and Culture Ch. Saeed has said that empowering women with education and skills were the top priority of the incumbent government since it considered it as a key to bring about the positive change in the society.
The AJK minister Chudhary Saeed said this while addressing the concluding session of 3-day Leadership Training workshop for Women in Mirpur. The workshop was hosted by Kashmir Institute of International Relations. Speaking on the occasion Saeed said, ““To ensure the economic empowerment of the women folk, there should be equal focus on skill development through vocational trainings in addition to providing educational opportunitiesâ€.
The Minister further said that women must be integrated in the mainstream to ensure progress and development of society. “It is necessary that women are educated, well aware, and skilled. It is practically not possible for any government to accommodate everyone in government jobs; therefore people should be encouraged to explore alternative means of employment through small scale industry and businesses thereby creating employment opportunities for others as well,†Saeed maintained.
They appreciated the training initiative and the main thrust areas included in the training sessions.
Ms.Sehrish Qamar,MLA showed high expectations for the participants that they must become agents of change in their society for the betterment of all womenfolk. She stressed that educated and confident women should rise above negative criticism and must become support network for each other to instill positive attitudes.
Dr.Rehana Asghar while addressing the ceremony, stressed on the importance of the economic independence of women. She opined that women should be encouraged and trained to engage in small cottage industry. She said that CPEC has a great role in the economic progress of our state. She hoped that the planned industrial zone for AJK as part of CPEC will play important role in the development of small scale private industrial units .
Director Women Wing, Ms. Atia Anwer Zoon while concluding the ceremony reminded the audience that women being half of population of country cannot be ignored. “It is important to take the women along for the progress and prosperity of the country. Time has come for women to take lead role from the supportive role in the progress of the country.†She also said that Tourism is an area which has huge potential for economic activity for women in the remote rural areas where women are not educated.
The participants appreciated the initiative of training and stressed that they should be provided with such opportunities in future as well as it plays an important role in grooming their leadership qualities. The closing ceremony concluded on award of certificates to the participants of training
It many be recalled here that this training workshop was part of the series of leadership trainings for women organized by the Women Wing of Kashmir Institute of International Relations. The participants included women from diverse professional backgrounds particularly the prominent female political workers of political parties from all three districts of Mirpur division. The key objective of such workshops is to raise awareness about the social, economic and political challenges faced by women, and to explore possible ways to advocate for the solution at policy level. The 3 days training provides a learning opportunity to these women where they learn about leadership, advocacy, communication, and the political and legislative structure of AJK.