Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal says women play a vital role in the development of any country.

Addressing at 19th Inter-Provincial Ministerial Group Meeting organized by National Commission on the Status in Islamabad on Thursday, he said Islam has given an equal right to the women but unfortunately, these rights were misinterpreted.

The Minister further added that the Planning Commission has established a Gender Unit in the ministry in which all development projects would be planned according to principles of gender responsiveness, so that the projects should not be approved without ensuring the interests of the women.

While welcoming the participants, Chairperson, NCSW Nilofar Bakhtiar said Global Gender Gap Report states Pakistan has closed the gender gap by 56.4 percent but still ranks us at second lowest from the bottom.

Source: Radio Pakistan