NEW DELHI, 26 September 2007 — President Pratibha Patil yesterday called for increased participation of women in public affairs. She said this while opening the 53rd Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) conference, the theme of which is “Delivering Democracy and Sustainable Development.”
Emphasizing the need for ensuring greater involvement of women in all development activities, Patil said: “Women constitute nearly half of the world population and their participation in elected bodies is fundamental for the effective functioning of a democracy. Similarly, there can be no doubt that a woman’s perspective is indispensable for a broad-based and a balanced development process.
“Development programs should be gender-sensitive and should specifically address issues and concerns of women in different sectors.”
Quoting a statement of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1949, Patil said: “It is necessary that we touch upon the world’s problems, not with passion and prejudice, but in a friendly way and with a touch of healing.” With “contemporary world, full of strife and conflict, there is an acute need for a healing touch, where the strong help the weak and the developed, the less developed,” Patil said.
During her address, the president also referred to Millennium Development Goals, which seek to eradicate poverty and hunger, promote education, empower women, improve maternal health, reduce child mortality, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases and ensure environmental sustainability.
On the threat posed by terrorists, Patil said: “Terrorism has no justification whatsoever and no cause can be served by shedding the blood of innocent people. It is imperative that we all take a firm and unequivocal stand against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.”
Among others who addressed the conference were Vice President Mohammed Hamid Ansari, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and Malaysian Assembly Speaker Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Di Raja Ramli Ngah Talib. As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, recuperating from a recent surgery, could not attend the conference, his message was read out by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi.
In his address, Ansari said: “The greatest challenge before all of us today is how to make our parliamentary institutions relevant in this era of globalization. The new global world order has to be built on the tenets of equity, harmony, tolerance, diversity and pluralism.”
With parliamentary institutions all over the world under pressure to meet the challenges of sustainable development, inclusive growth and good governance, Ansari said the answer lay in seeking to strengthen, and deepen, the norms of participation and of accountability. “It is our collective responsibility to ensure that nobody is left behind in this era of globalization,” he said.
The weeklong CPA congress is being hosted in India for the fourth time, after a gap of 16 years. A message of Queen Elizabeth II was read out by Chatterjee.
