PAKISTAN: Ban Ki-moon Lauds Fehmida's Performance, Terms her Role Model for Women

Appreciating the leadership role of Dr Fehmida Mirza, for undertaking numerous initiatives towards the protection and empowerment of women, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said that she is a role model for women of many countries particularly in her region.
Admiring the fact that Dr Mirza is the first female Speaker of the Muslim World, he said her contribution in building parliamentary consensus as well as establishing Parliamentary Caucus were significant achievements need to be promoted and highlighted.
The Secretary General made these remarks in a meeting with Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan, Dr Fehmida Mirza, who called on him at the UN Headquarters on Friday.

Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon accompanied the Speaker.
The Secretary General expressed appreciation for the important role played by Pakistan in UN affairs as evidenced by its being the largest contributor of troops for the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations. He also underlined the importance of Pakistan for stabilization of Afghanistan and peace in the region. He expressed appreciation for Pakistan's fight against terrorism.
The Speaker National Assembly briefed the Secretary-General in detail about the excellent legislative work done by the Parliament of Pakistan including passage of 18th and 19th amendments as well as passage of 16 Bills relating to welfare, empowerment and protection of women and children.

She apprised the Secretary-General of her efforts towards establishing a Parliamentary Caucus of Female Parliamentarians a feat that she was determined to help repeat at the SAARC as well as the Asian level.

She called upon the United Nations to provide all possible support for such endeavors. The Speaker also proudly informed the Secretary General that the share of women representations in the Parliament is 22.7% which is among the highest in the region.
The Speaker also spoke about the Joint Session of Parliament held today which had yielded a unanimous joint resolution. She highlighted the enormous human and material losses sustained by Pakistan in the fight against terror. She emphasized the need for Pakistan's crucial contribution to combating terrorism and extremism to be duly recognized and appreciated by the international community.

The Secretary-General reiterated his support for Pakistan and assured the Speaker that all relevant UN Agencies would extend necessary support for the admirable work being done under the Speaker's leadership specially in regard to enhancing the status of women.