A highlevel workshop convened by the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (WPC) has underscored an urgent need to transform women’s rights from moral platitudes into enforceable legal frameworks, calling for rigorous legislative scrutiny to ensure prowomen laws deliver tangible results across Pakistan. The event, held on Thursday, brought together parliamentarians and experts to address gaps in the drafting and implementation of genderresponsive legislation.
The symposium was arranged by the WPC of the National Assembly in partnership with the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS), UN Women, UNDP, and the Shaoor Foundation. Its primary objective was to enhance genderfocused legislation and fortify effective parliamentary oversight.
In his welcoming remarks, PIPS Executive Director Asim Khan Goraya highlighted the indispensable role of women in socioeconomic progress. He stressed the necessity for gendersensitive statutes backed by robust legislative review and thanked WPC Secretary Dr. Shahida Rehmani and UN Women for their collaborative support.
Dr. Shahida Rehmani, MNA, delivered the keynote address, emphasizing the WPC’s crossparty mission to advance gender equality. She called for active engagement to build consensus, stating the importance of welldrafted and implementable statutes that translate into genuine improvements for women.
Jamshed M. Kazi, the UN Women Country Representative, articulated the pivotal role of parliamentary bodies in advancing women’s rights. He noted that the session was designed to bolster legislative analysis, build drafting confidence, and encourage crossparty dialogue to elevate women’s rights into legally binding protections.
The event featured technical sessions led by legal and parliamentary experts. Muhammad Khashih ur Rehman, an Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Law and Justice, guided a discussion on effective legislative scrutiny tools, particularly focusing on analyzing bills through a genderresponsive lens.
Following this, Syed Shamoon Hashmi, Special Secretary of the National Assembly, shared practical insights on building consensus for prowomen bills. The afternoon included a handson training session on drafting gendersensitive legislation, conducted by Senior Drafting Specialist Sheikh Sarfraz Ahmed.
During the concluding session, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative Ms. Van Nguye and SFEA Founder Syed Ali Hameed reiterated the need for coordinated efforts among parliamentary institutions, development partners, and civil society. The workshop closed with a vote of thanks from the WPC Secretary, reaffirming a collective commitment to fortifying legislative review for the effective implementation of prowomen laws.