ISLAMABAD, 14 October 2004 — The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) will provide $4.5 million in grant to Pakistan for the education of women elected to political office for their capacity building and in raising women’s issues in political debates.
An agreement to this effect was signed here by Minister for Women’s Development Nilofar Bakhtiar and UNDP representative in Islamabad Ondar Yucer.
Officials of the UNDP said that the program titled “Women’s political school” is a continuation of an earlier program under which 36,000 women office holders elected in the recently constituted local bodies were trained.
“The new program is aimed at institutionalizing women’s political education in Pakistan. It will take care of the political dynamics of the country and the general elections to be held in 2005,” said an official.
The number of women holding public office in Pakistan has sharply increased following the elections of local bodies at district level. The latest constitutional amendments have also resulted in increased numbers of women in Parliament and provincial assemblies.
The project of “Women’s political school” will ensure that female public representatives gain the required skills to bring forward the issues Pakistani women are confronting to the center of policy agenda, said an official at the Ministry of Women’s Development.
Official said that the project will focus equally on all four provinces and tribal area and is targeting some 40,000 women councilors.
The earlier joint Pakistan-UNDP project was aimed at educating little more than 30,000 women in political education.
