Our Correspondent
PESHAWAR: The National Media Coalition Meeting was jointly organized by the Population Council and UNFPA in the context of Women’s Day and was attended by journalists from all four provinces.
The participants of the meeting were informed that 9 million girls in Pakistan do not have access to basic right to education, 11,000 mothers die in maternity death every year and this daily ratio is 30 women, 1.7 million girls are 18 years old. Marriage is performed at a young age. More than six million couples across the country want to do family planning but do not have access to family planning facilities. 8 million women in the country are victims of violence while 45% suffer from malnutrition, 74% of women do not work for free Can Similarly, 37% of married women’s health decisions are made by their husbands.
At the beginning of the meeting, Population Council Senior Director Programs Dr. Ali Mir and Project Director Samia Ali Shah said that the extraordinary population growth in Pakistan is a matter of concern, resources are shrinking while the scale of problems is increasing. The theme is the elimination of social prejudices that affect women’s health, but only if we provide women with basic services, including health and employment, and empower them to make decisions in the political and social spheres.
Addressing the meeting, sociologist Dr. Fauzia Yazdani said that Pakistan is a signatory to international agreements that require protection of child marriage and women’s rights, as well as the National Assembly and the four provincial legislatures. Has enacted legislation to implement the Sustainable Development Goals. In addition, protection of the rights of women and children is one of the primary responsibilities of the state under Articles 34, 14 and 9 of the Constitution of Pakistan.
Addressing the meeting, Dr. Jameel Ahmed, UNFPA Program Specialist, said that the maternal mortality rate in Pakistan is higher than the entire region and to overcome this we need to change societal attitudes and adopt family planning strategies. Social programs need to be expanded by involving the private sector.
Media representatives from across the country at the meeting reiterated their commitment to work together to protect the reproductive health and rights of women and youth and agreed on the need for an awareness campaign.
At the end of the program, Advocacy Huma Iqbal, Manager, Population Council, thanked the participants and stressed the need for continuous coverage of ongoing population welfare initiatives in the national and regional media.
