On March 9, Ambassador Munir Akram attended a virtual High-Level Meeting on the Commemoration of the International Day for Women. The theme of the meeting was “Women Participation in Decision making; Reforms and Best Practices” and it was hosted by Saudi Arabia.
Munir Akram, who is a Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN and President of UN ECOSOC, highlighted the importance of gender equality. According to him, equality between men and women as a basic tenet of Islam is not sufficiently emphasized on United Nations forums. Islam had given equal rights to women even before the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and these rights are crucial for economic and social development.
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“A transforming partnership between women and men is a prerequisite for the timely achievement of the sustainable development goals,” Munir Akram stated,” We will not be able to achieve those goals unless we also achieve the goals of parity, gender equality, non-discrimination between men and women in our societies.”
In the meeting, Munir Akram praised Antonio Guterres, who is the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nation, for his efforts in promoting women participation as the UN has now achieved 50 per cent parity in the senior policymaking positions.
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Vision 2030; a phenomenal effort
The Ambassador also complimented the leadership of King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman for their ‘Vision 2030’. The programme is a “phenomenal” effort in transforming the legal, political, and administrative structure as it has expanded the rights of women.
Under the program, women in Saudi Arabia are ambassadors, general managers, directors of private firms, and government spokesperson. They are also allowed to drive which was previously banned in the Kingdom.
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According to Munir Akram, the world is not fully aware of these impressive details by Saudi Arabia. “It is something we need to make the world aware of the initiative by Saudi Arabian leadership as an Islamic country. Something that could be an example in terms of descriptive note towards the promotion of gender equality in Islamic society,” he added.
He also talked about Pakistan and the policy measures taken by the country to empower women. In Pakistan, women also have the freedom to participate in government, military, and business corporations. The government of Pakistan is committed to continuing working towards the achievement of gender parity and equality for all Pakistani women.
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The Ambassador concluded the meeting by quoting Quaid-e-Azam, “I have always maintained that no nation can ever be worthy of its existence that cannot take its women along with the men.”