Workshop on women's rights held in Chitral

Report GH Farooqui

CHITRAL: A one-day workshop on women rights was held at Mulkho, some 98 KM from here. The programme was jointly organized by Khow Local Support Organization (KLSO) and Mulkhoh Cultural and Historical Society (MCHS) supported by Legal Awareness Program for Human Rights (LAPH).
Bashirullah, Manager KLSO, pointed out the main problems faced by women of the area like lack of health acre and education facilities. He said there is only one high school for 18,990 population which is not sufficient. He said women are being empowered by imparting them training in different skills like honey bee keeping, handicrafts etc. He said no society can develop until they involved women in the decision-making process because they are important component of the community.
Niaz Ali Shah, Chairman Board of Director of LAPH, highlighted women's rights on legal point of view. He said the main cause of women frustration was our attitude and denying women property rights and ignoring them in decision making. He said women are half of our total population and we should bring them forward for sustainable development. He said some are depriving women of their basic rights through wrong and traditional practices.
The speakers said due to discriminations we treated sons and daughters unequally which created frustration amomg females.
Ms Gulshad, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, highlighted women's rights on Islamic point of view as well as according to UN human rights charter.
Ghulam Muhayuddin lamented that due to our traditional practices women reamined undeveloped.
Chairman KLSO Mukarram Shah said women are deliberately being neglected and they are not given their rights. He said a nation can never develop until their women did not work shoulder to shoulder with their men.