Daily Times

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Commission on the Status of Women (KPCSW), with support from GIZ, successfully launched the findings of the Gender Analysis of Health Sector Strategic Plan 2018–2025 and Education Sector Plans 2020–2025 in a one-day seminar held here.

A press release issued here Friday said that the seminar brought together a diverse range of stakeholders committed to advancing gender equality in the province.

Director Programmes of KPCSW Amna Durrani, while explaining the objective of the seminar, said that gender analysis of the KP Health Sector Strategic Pan (HSSP) 2018–2025 and Education Sector Plan 2020–2025 aimed at incorporating gender lenses into the HSSP‘s policy actions, strategies, and programs.

Robin Haider Bokhari, Secretary, said that the gender analysis exercise was an effort to translate the Commission’s statutory functions of reviewing the plans of each department in the province to see if they adequately address the strategic needs of women.

The Guest of Honor, Rakhshanda Naz, Ombudsperson for Harassment of Women at Workplace KP, said that redress of harassment in workplaces, institutions, and public places was essential to promoting the inclusion of girls and women in education and mainstreaming their access to health.

The Additional Secretary of the Elementary and Secondary Education Department (E&SED) Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Jehangir Azam Wazir, addressing the audience, said that E&SED was dedicatedly working on bringing back out-of-school children, especially girls, through a host of initiatives, including the involvement of the community, parent-teacher councils, and introducing accelerated learning pathways.

The Special Secretary of the Health Department, Habibullah, hailed the role of the Women Commission in highlighting the areas needing further focus in the Health Sector Strategic Plan to promote greater inclusion of women in the healthcare workforce and access to health services across the province.

Participants in the interactive session endorsed the findings that a greater focus was required in the HSSP on services for gender-based violence in essential services, mental health, and the need for greater focus on social determinants of women‘s physical health. These crucial findings were expected to play a pivotal role in fostering inclusivity and enhancing the quality of education and health services in KP.