ISLAMABAD:Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Youth Affairs Ms Shaza Fatima Khawaja held a meeting with the representatives of UN Women Pakistan.

She assured full support from the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme to UN Women and said that women empowerment is necessary for transforming Pakistan into a developed nation. She said there is a big need for enhanced women labor force numbers. The SAPM identified that lack of modern facilities, digital illiteracy, and absence of exposure to corporate world are the core reasons behind the low involvement of women in the business sector.

She said in collaboration with UN Women, Prime Minister’s Youth Programme will provide skills scholarships to women in 10 different marginalized districts all across Pakistan. Representatives of UN Women expressed that there is a dire need of reaching out to women from downtrodden areas and collaboration with the government will boost their mission of empowering underprivileged females of the country. 6000 women will potentially benefit through collaboration with the government.

Country representative UN Women Pakistan Ms Sharmeela Rasool appreciated the government’s interest in empowering women in Pakistan. Ms Shaza Fatima Khawaja urged UN women Pakistan to continue their ventures and Prime Minister’s youth program will ensure the availability of statistics and data in the concerned 10 districts.

The SAPM highlighted that one of the major goals of the Prime Minister’s Office is to facilitate young women. She said women constitute more than 49 percent of our population but only 23 percent of the women are part of the workforce. Our mission is to minimize the gender gap and bring women on top in every sphere of life, she added.