Gender-responsive budget must to empower women, says NA speaker.

ISLAMABAD -- National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Thursday called for gender-responsive budgeting as one of the most effective ways to ensure women's needs and rights were met.

He expressed these views while speaking at the launching ceremony of the 'Gender Responsive Budgeting Report' organised by the Women Parliamentary Caucus (WPC) and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES).

Speaker Ashraf said that legislators in Pakistan had been working to increase women's participation in the budgetary process and to ensure that gender considerations were integrated into development planning and implementation. He also stressed the need to ensure that gender-responsive budgeting was integrated into all levels of government and that it was effectively implemented and monitored.

The speaker also appreciated the efforts of Dr Shahid Rehmani, WPC secretary, to launch a summary paper on Gender Responsive Budgeting in Pakistan. Mr Ashraf said that his party believed in the emancipation of women and an empowered nation. He urged all participants to support the implementation of gender-responsive budgeting in Pakistan.

The Women Parliamentary Caucus launched the summary paper on 'Gender Budgeting in Pakistan'. The purpose of the summary paper was to put forward key strategies and methodologies for the implementation of gender budgeting. This paper would serve as a source of inspiration and guidance for further work, especially for WPC but also for other institutions interested in promoting a coherent regarding the issue.

Dr Shahida Rehmani, in her inaugural remarks, said that the WPC had been working diligently to institutionalise the gender budgeting process. This strategy paper was the first step toward the process. She highlighted that to better understand public...