President Dr Arif Alvi Thursday expressed hope that the Geneva Conference to be held on January 9, would be a step forward in helping Pakistan become a climate-resilient country. Talking during an overview of Aiwan-e-Sadr for the year 2022, he said Pakistan had less than one percent contribution to global warming but was adversely affected by climate-induced disasters caused by floods and suffered losses of billions of dollars. He lauded the contribution of friendly countries, armed forces, nongovernmental organizations, and civil administration in the relief and rehabilitation activities for flood affectees. The immense loss was caused in Balochistan and Sindh as miles upon miles of land submerged in water, he noted. He said 10 percent of the population in Pakistan had disabilities, adding that specially-abled persons should get an education in mainstream schools and children should be taught to treat special persons with empathy. These special children should be given proper education and employment so that they could contribute to society and live without dependence on others. The president underlined the need for creating awareness about the rights of special persons. Talking about women empowerment, Dr. Alvi said women should be given opportunities to set up their businesses and they should be protected from harassment when they go out of their homes. He said Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Quaid e Azam, and Allama Iqbal advocated for the rights of women. He said for the first time, Islam gave property rights to women, adding women should have the right to education and they should be financially empowered. He expressed concern about the restrictions placed on women’s education in Afghanistan. He said women in Pakistan could now open bank accounts online and the cash from Benazir Income Support Programme was going directly into their bank accounts. Digitization and information technology were helping in the financial empowerment of women, he explained. The president said their campaign for awareness of breast cancer was productive and people were now talking about the disease. He said according to a survey conducted by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan 24 percent of people in the country were facing mental health issues at present while 60 to 80 percent of students had mental health problems. He said an emergency mental health helpline should be set up to help people with mental issues. He said he resolved numerous complaints referred to him by the Federal Ombudsman against the federal government departments. He said Pakistan could make immense progress by imparting training to students in the field of information technology. Pakistan needed stability and a forward-looking government to attract foreign investment, he said, and urged students to get training from the government programs. He said he was convinced that electronic voting machines were the only solution on the day of polling in Pakistan. He called on people to get involved in politics, take part in the upcoming elections and strengthen the next government. He observed that Pakistan was facing a crisis of political polarization and a lack of political tolerance.