President Alvi stresses on women empowerment in sparsely attended session

Addressing a joint session of the parliament on Thursday, President Dr Arif Alvi stressed on empowerment of women in Pakistan, saying that opportunities should be made for them.

Addressing a sparsely attended session, the President said that women should feel safe in public spaces and men in society can contribute to that. He pointed out that women in Pakistan can contribute a greatly to society.

Moreover, the president said that women should be given chances to work in public offices and urged lawmakers to work on eliminating harassment.

His remarks were addressed to a mostly empty hall, with legislators from both treasury and Opposition benches choosing to skip the session.

Dr Alvi warned against neglecting youth as he called for the inclusion of children who were out of school and urged lawmakers to focus on it.

“I have spoken to ulema that mosques should have sessions to provide school education. If you can’t provide education to children, give them skills,” he highlighted.

Talking about the flood situation in Pakistan, the president, “I want to felicitate the Pakistan Army for helping victims while sacrificing their lives. The federal and provincial governments, PDMA (Provincial Disaster Management Authority), and NDMA (National Disaster Management Authority) all worked hard on the ground. I thank all of them.”

He said that the recent floods had, once again, raised the demand for building dams. Furthermore, he pointed out that if the relief work is not done on time, human and economic losses from the floods would be higher.

“The Netherlands is 19 times smaller than Pakistan but it has progressed in agriculture, and my country should have progressed more in this field. If we adopt a scientific approach, Pakistan can beat the world,” he stated.

Talking about foreign affairs in his speech today, the president lauded the government for improving ties with the United States (US). On China, the president said, “I believe the Pakistan-China friendship is a real one and CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) is an example of it.”

At one point during his address, the president also called for the continuation of the work on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), saying “We shouldn’t delay this”.

President Alvi was set to address the joint session on August 14, but due to the apprehensions of the coalition government, the address was postponed.