KARACHI, Dec 31: Speakers at a conference on Saturday urged women councillors to rise above their political affiliations join hands with the forces taking up the issues relating to womenfolk.

The day-long provincial conference of women councillors was organized by the Aurat Foundation.

Those who addressed the conference included Anis Haroon, Aslam Brohi, Azmat Kazi, Shamim Wasi, Hina Siddiqui, Feroz Azmat, Imamzadi, Rehana Yasmin, Falaknaz, Zaib-un-Nisa Mallah, Qamar Bano, Malika Khan, Hassan Pathan and Farhana Daud. Over 150 councillors, nazims and naib nazims from across the country participated in the conference.

The speakers expressed the view that without forging unity in their file and rank, and without setting aside their affiliation with different political parties, women leaders would not be able to achieve much for women while the issues confronting the womenfolk were being discussed.

They demanded equal opportunities for men and women in every field, saying that woman was equally qualified and capable of performing all kinds of work. Whenever a level-playing field was provided, women had proved that they were not at all inferior in any respect to their male counterparts. “Results of higher education examinations were a proof of this as a large number of toppers appeared to be female students.

They demanded that quota for women in government jobs be fixed. They called for separate offices and toilets for women councillors, and payment of TA/DA to them.

They also demanded that the laws that were discriminatory against the weaker sections of the society be abolished.

The speakers said that it should be made mandatory that relevant sections/columns of Nikahnama that relate to the rights of a bride must be filled at the time of marriage. They pointed out that such columns were usually left blank owing to the lack of awareness.

They observed that owing to the awareness campaigns launched by various civil society organizations, more women had participated in the local government elections.

Before the recent LG polls, there were only two women district Nazims – Nafisa Shah (Khairpur) and Faryal Talpur (Nawabshah) – but after in the latest elections, four women were elected district nazims – Faryal Talpur (Nawabshah), Saeeda Soomro (Jacobabad), Dr Rahila Magsi (Tando Allahyar and Dr Sughra Junejo (Mirpurkhas).

They said it was interesting to note that both of the earlier women district nazims were from Sindh and all the new four women district nazims were also from the same province. This showed that the awareness of women rights and participation of women in politics in Sindh was comparatively more than in other parts of the country.

They said that seminars and workshops were held by the civil society organizations, particularly the Aurat Foundation, before the polls to assist women contestants. Seminar and conferences were being planned to provide further assistance to women councillors so that they could perform their duties more efficiently, they added.

The speakers noted that more than 60 camps had been established during the elections where information and other assistance had been provided to over 16,000 participating women, as well as men, regarding the election procedures.