First Lady urges parliamentarians to expedite work on pending Disability Bills.

ISLAMABAD -- First Lady Samina Arif Alvi on Monday called upon the parliamentarians to pace up work on legislation for persons having disabilities to ensure their mainstreaming in all spheres of life.

Addressing at the 2nd annual Khadija Tul Kubra Awards here, the First Lady said it was important for the society to provide a level-playing field for disabled persons to make them productive citizens.

The award ceremony was organized by Women Parliamentary Caucus, STEP (Special Talent Exchange Programme), UN Women and the U.S. embassy to honour 16 disabled women who proved role models in domain of disability rights and for 20 male and female champions of empowerment for disabled women.

Begum Alvi said the government, private sector and civil society in the country had a joint responsibility for facilitating access of disabled people to opportunities of education, healthcare and employment.

She called the need for accommodating disabled children in general schools instead of marginalizing them in special needs institutions.

She mentioned her social work in personal capacity with the Karachi chapter of Network of Organizations Working for People with Disabilities Pakistan (NOWPDP) and expressed her desire to expand the initiative to other parts of country as well.

MNA and Secretary Women Parliamentary Caucus Munazza Hassan said despite various challenges, a number of women with disabilities in...