‘Political and leadership role model' Benazir Bhutto lauded at women empowerment seminar

KARACHI: An unparalleled role of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister, was lauded by every speaker as the Consulate General of China held a seminar about ‘Women’s empowerment’.

And why not? It’s a month when the first Muslim woman prime minister returned to her country after a self-imposed exile, only to face suicide attacks that killed 180 of her diehard supporters. Tragically, she would die two months later in December 2007.

The guest of honour, Faryal Talpur, Central President of the Pakistan Peoples Party Women’s Wing, highlighted the key initiatives taken by Shaheed Mohtarma and the current provincial government of Sindh.

Well, who else can tell the story as Benazir Bhutto had made her guardian of her son Bilawal and daughters Bakhtwar and Aseefa Bhutto Zardari.

Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon specially mentioned the First Women Bank and the Pink Bus service in this regard.

He said that electric scooters are being distributed to women in order to increase mobility and reduce their transportation cost. The minister took pride that Sindh is soon going to launch Pakistan’s first government-run taxi service.

Memon said that continuing the legacy of his martyred mother, Bilawal Bhutto, has ensured gender equality and women's empowerment. He called it a social revolution that the house ownership rights of flood affected families are being given to the women.

Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah shed light on the history of Sindhi women in defending their honour and putting a brave face to the invaders.

Quoting from archives, Shah mentioned how Alexander the Great and Emperor Genghis Khan admitted the beauty and bravery of the Sindhi women who encouraged their men to defeat the Greek and Mongol armies.

The provincial minister also mentioned legendary characters of Marvi, Moomal, Noori, Sohni, and Sassui. By quoting verses from Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, he told the audience how these women are a symbol of determination and patriotism.

Shah revealed that President Zardari had instructed him to ensure a reasonable strength of girls and women in educational institutions. Hence, the female teachers represent 40% the total strength now.

MNA Mehtab Akbar Rashdi and leading entrepreneurs also addressed the seminar. It was well attended by women who have achieved excellence in various fields.

The event was held in continuation of a meeting on women in Beijing under the theme “One shared future: New and accelerated progress for women’s all-round development”.

There, President Xi Jinping had announced that in the next five years, China will donate another $10 million to UN Women; earmark a quota of $100 million in China’s Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund for implementing development cooperation projects for women and girls.

At the same time, Beijing is launching 1,000 “small and beautiful” livelihood programmes with Chinese assistance that take women and girls as priority beneficiaries.

China is also inviting 50,000 women for exchange and training programmes, and establishing a Global Centre for Women’s Capacity Building. The centre is aimed at conducting capacity building and other development cooperation.

As a matter of fact, in the last three decades, China has emerged as a role model of women's empowerment. 690 million women have entered a moderately prosperous society.

Across China, women account for over half of the students enrolled in higher education. They make up 45.8% of the science and technology workforce as well.

Female judges account for 42.3% of all judges nationwide, and women constitute more than half of the entrepreneurs in the internet sector.

There are Nobel Laureates like Tu Youyou and astronauts like Wang Yaping. In a nutshell, Chinese women truly play the role of 'half the sky' in economic and social development.

The audience in the consulate burst into laughter and applauded for a long time when a Chinese diplomat commented that his entrepreneur wife, working in the automobile sector, earns much more than he does.

On his part, Consul General Yang Yundong highlighted how the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government safeguard women’s legitimate rights and interests. He said that advancing the all-round development of women is an important part of Chinese modernisation.

He took pride that over the past 30 years, ‘guided by the spirit of the Beijing World Conference on Women’, the cause of women has been thriving around the world.

Yang Yundong admitted that the cause of women's liberation and empowerment in Pakistan has also achieved tremendous success.

‘As the first female Prime Minister in the Islamic world, the late Ms Benazir Bhutto, with her extraordinary political courage and excellent leadership, became an outstanding example in promoting women's participation in public affairs and social governance, setting a role model of unremitting self-reliance and courage to take on responsibility for countless Pakistani women,’ remarked the consul general.

He informed the participants that under the framework of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the two sides have jointly carried out vocational skills training for local women in areas such as sewing, embroidery, driving, and even computer science.

‘A considerable portion of the scholarships provided by China to Pakistan is allocated to Pakistani women and girls, informed the Chinese diplomat.

He said that these steps are transforming development dividends into livelihood skills and independent capital for Pakistani women.