28 February 2024 (Islamabad): PODA Congratulates Ms. Maryam Nawaz Sharif on her appointment as the first ever Woman Chief Minister of Punjab province of Pakistan. We are delighted that a woman will be heading the administration of the largest province of Pakistan with 127 million population and that she has made clear commitments in her inaugural speech to protect the rights of women, youth, minorities, persons with disabilities and transgender persons”, said Ms. Sameena Nazir, executive director of PODA, a women rights organization in Pakistan adding that it makes a huge difference if the highest official in a province is well aware about the problems that working women face in urban and rural areas.

“We are impressed by the attention to details that the new Chief Minister has about women’s issues such as the important need of separate wash rooms for women in government offices and in public”, said Sameena Nazir adding that it is an urgent need as most government offices in UC, Tehsil, district levels do not have separate wash rooms for women that discourages women from accessing government services and for applying to office jobs and this facility should be mandatory in all offices and in public.

PODA particularly welcomes Maryam Nawaz’s remarks about ensuring protection of women and improving the police system. “Every year, thousands of crimes against women, girls and children are not properly investigated by the police at village based Chowki (Thana) in Punjab because the policeman at the Chowki decides how he will write the First Information Report (FIR)”, said Ms. Sameena Nazir adding that in most cases the police officials side with abuser because they bring local workers of major political with them to pressure the police. Unless the FIR is written promptly and investigation is conducted with gender sensitivity, women and girls in Pakistan cannot get protection from violence, said Sameena Nazir. She urged Ms. Maryam Nawaz to ensure that village police Chowki staff is trained in human rights and gender sensitization.

PODA and its rural women leaders network spread across 150 districts of Pakistan also offered its cooperation to the new Chief Minister of Pakistan to work with her to protect the Right to Education and the Right to Health of girls in Pakistan and invited her to work with PODA for increasing the minimum age of marriage for girls from 16 to 18 years in Punjab province. “If the province of Sindh can increase the minimum age of marriage for girls to 18 years, there is no reason why Punjab should not do it also”.  PODA has been advocating for an amendment in 2015 Punjab Marriage Act to increase the age of marriage for girls and we hope that under the leadership of a dynamic woman leader like Ms. Maryam Nawaz this change will happen to protect girls rights, said Ms. Sameena Nazir and sent best wishes to Maryam Nawaz for her future work.