Training On Gender Concerns in Providing Women with Safer Public Transport in Punjab by WDD & UN Women

08/05/18

Women Development Department Punjab in collaboration with UN Women launched a pilot project in Lahore to make public transport facilities accessible, safe and harassment-free for women. Deputy Secretary WDD Amna Rafique presented the welcome address and briefed the participants about the training in detail. Representative of UN Women Ms. Hooriya Sayeda also highlighted the importance of the training.

The Project initially has been launched in Lahore to conduct women’s safety audit in public transport to assess women’s perceptions of safety as well as actual safety and increase their participation in decision-making. Internationally recognized as a ‘best practice’, a women’s safety audit tool is being introduced in Pakistan for the first time and Women Safety Audit Report was launched in December 2017, she added. In this context, Women Development Department in collaboration with UN Women plan to enhance the capacity of Punjab based stakeholders on gender equality. The training is aimed at strengthening the capacity of the concerned officials to ensure promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment agenda committed as enshrined in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR). Women Safety Helpline has also been inaugurated to check harassment of women in public transport based on findings of women safety audit report by Women Development Department Punjab and UN Women. This campaign will be further extended with the help of Lahore Transport Company (LTC) management to create maximum awareness among the women about their rights and protection. Later, certificates among the participants were also distributed.