ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: President Dr. Arif Alvi has emphasized the need for empowering women by providing them rights of ownership and possession of properties.
While chairing a meeting regarding the enforcement of women’s property rights at Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad on Wednesday, the president said that Islam had granted property rights to women but regrettably, they had been kept deprived of their rights in certain areas of the Country.
صدرمملکت ڈاکٹر عارف علوی کی زیرصدارت خواتین کے ملکیتی حقوق کے حوالے سے اجلاس
اجلاس میں وفاق، پنجاب اور خیبر پختونخواہ کی جانب سے پاس کیےگئے خواتین کے ملکیتی حقوق کےنفاذ کے ایکٹ پر بریفنگ دی گئی
خواتین کو جائیدادوں کے ملکیتی حقوق فراہم کرکے بااختیار بنانے کی ضرورت ہے، صدر مملکت pic.twitter.com/Pot2WEv4nP
— The President of Pakistan (@PresOfPakistan) September 8, 2021
The meeting was attended by the Minister for Law and Justice Senator Dr. Muhammad Farogh Naseem, MNA Ms. Maleeka Ali Bokhari, the Secretary Law and Justice Raja Naeem Akbar, the Federal Ombudsman for Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Ms. Kashmala Tariq, the Ombudsperson Punjab Ms. Nabila Ali Khan, the Executive Director of the Group Development Pakistan Ms. Valerie Khan, and senior officials of the government.
The meeting was briefed about the Enforcement of Women’s Property Rights Acts passed by the federal government in 2020, the Punjab government in 2021, and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in 2019.
President Arif Alvi expressed the hope that the implementation of these acts would empower women and grant them financial autonomy.
The president also underlined the need to develop and strengthen the institutions of Federal and Provincial Ombudspersons to enforce these acts in letter and spirit ensuring the protection of the rights of ownership and possession of properties owned by women.
Ms. Kashmala Tariq informed the meeting that her institution had received 116 complaints since the enforcement of the Women’s Property Rights Act, 2020. Out of 116 complaints, 15 cases were pending while the rest had been sent to concerned quarters for appropriate action, she added.
Ms. Nabila Ali Khan apprised the meeting that 250 cases had been received by the Ombudsperson Punjab and serious steps were being taken for their redressal.
The meeting also highlighted the need to launch an awareness campaign through media as well as engage the Ulema to educate the people about the role of Ombudspersons in protecting women’s property rights.