PODA team met with the Chairperson of Khyber-Pukhtoonkhwa Commission on the Status of Women, Dr. Riffat Sardar at her office in Peshawar and took part in a consultation on engaging rural women in leadership and economic development. The Chairperson of the Commission showed great interest to work with PODA. She hosted the meeting in her office and took part in the three-hour consultation meeting. A group of 15 rural women leaders from Haripur, Mardan, Peshawar, Khyber, Kurram, and Orakzai participated. Two Gender and Development Officers working in the newly merged districts of Khyber-Pukhtoonkhwa province also participated in the consultation. The women included heads of local community groups and former women councilors, a school teacher, a lady health worker, a writer and two farmers. One woman runs a beauty parlor and another runs her clothing business. The Chairperson of the commission Dr. Riffat Sardar said she attended PODA’s annual rural women conference in October 2019 for the first time and was very impressed by the quality of rural women leaders who came from all parts of Pakistan including from KP province. She said travel and meeting peers is a great way of learning and women’s ability to share their experiences including their failures and successes gives them courage to try even more. She said the KP Commission on the Status of Women will be honored to work with PODA to promote the rights of women in her province. She invited PODA to organize a regional conference for rural women in Peshawar in year 2020 to form a bigger network of rural women leaders in her province that can meet more often and then report to the national rural women conference that is held in October in Islamabad. The participants many of whom had also attended PODA’s 2019 annual conference shared that this is a unique experience that motivates them to share their local work at a national level meeting. The Gender officers from newly merged districts said they need help in reaching out to women in their district so this network of rural women in KP will be helpful in this regard. The participants discussed the problems women face in getting CNICs and for voter registration. PODA president Ms. Sameena Nazir shared the economic empowerment projects that PODA is implementing in various districts of Punjab including Seed bank for women farmers, paper and plastic recycling to make handicrafts and bag making. The Commission asked PODA to send a few of its master trainers to KP for the transfer of skills to rural women in KP. In the end, PODA and KPCSW also signed a Letter of Agreement on 31st December 2019 for mutual collaboration and for working together for the empowerment of rural women.
