Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has said no society can progress without ensuring women empowerment and their participation in every field of life.

He was addressing a ceremony in Islamabad on Thursday regarding launch of summary paper on gender-responsive budgeting in Pakistan by Women Parliamentary Caucus under the leadership of Dr Shahida Rehmani.

The Speaker said we have been working to increase women participation in the budgeting process and to ensure that gender considerations are incorporated into our development planning and implementation. He stressed the need to ensure that gender responsive budgeting is integrated into all levels of government and that it is effectively implemented and monitored. He also called for raising awareness about the importance of gender responsive budgeting and to mobilize support for its implementation.

Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said he is a staunch believer of women emancipation because empowered women make empowered nations.

He also expressed the hope that this paper will pave the way for effective policy interventions regarding the support and sufficient budgetary allocations to empower women in true sense.

Source: Radio Pakistan