Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Monday passed a unanimous resolution to equip women with digital skills by prioritizing education in Information Communication Technology (ICT) subjects and allocating separate funds through Public Sector Development Programmes for their digital empowerment.
Senator Seemee Ezdi of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and on behalf of Samina Mumtaz Zehri of Balochistan Awami Party presented the resolution on the floor of the Upper House of parliament and urged the government to prepare and implement a National Action Plan for providing a gender-responsive approach to innovation, technology and digital education.
According to the resolution, the Senate commemorated 8th March 2023 as International Women’s Day with the aim of endorsing and creating a world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination in accordance with the United Nations theme ‘DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality.
Celebrating the contributions being made by women and girls in every field, especially in technology and online education, it acknowledged the impact of the digital gender gap on widening economic and social inequalities and recognized the importance of protecting the rights of women and girls in digital spaces, besides addressing online and ICT-facilitated gender-based violence.
The Senate recognized that bringing women and other marginalized groups into technology would result in more creative solutions as they have greater potential for innovations that meet women’s needs and promote gender equality.
The resolution quoted the father of the nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah as saying that “There are two powers in the world: one is the sword and the other is the pen.
There is a great competition and rivalry between the two. There is a third power stronger than both, that of the women.”
