LAHORE:As many as 180 girls showcased their driving skills as they rode motorcycles with dexterity in an exhibition of skill, mobility and autonomy in a motorbike rally under the UNDP’s Women-on-Wheels (WoW) program at a local hotel, on Tuesday.
The UNDP, Pakistan had provided motorcycle training to 180 girls across Lahore to create a long-lasting sustainable impact on the lives of women and girls to increase their mobility, independence, and visibility in public spaces.
Being part of its commitment to support Government of Punjab in gender equality for equitable and sustainable development under the UNDP’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a policy dialogue on ‘Women’s Mobility’ was also held prior to the motorbike rally of girls.
Ammara, Durrani, Assistant Resident Representative, and Chief, Development Policy Unit, UNDP Pakistan told reporter that there was need to empower girls and women so that they could play a vibrant role in the economy of the country, adding as per the Global Gender Gap Report 2022, women’s labor-force participation in Pakistan declined by 1.9 percentage points in 2022.
She said the college-going girls and working women from lower middle-class backgrounds were picked for training so that they could become more useful members of society by breaking the barriers. She believed the skill would enable women and girls to overcome mobility constraints that hinder them from accessing various education and employment opportunities.
Ms. Durrani said besides providing motorcycle lessons to the girls, the WoW program also imparted road safety training, anti-harassment training, licenses, and employment support.
The speakers during the Dialogue on ‘Women’s Mobility’ stressed the need for reforms to cut down on the gender gap and remove barriers to mobility which often inhibit women and girls from going to schools, colleges, universities, and offices and taking part in other economic opportunities.
They maintained that these barriers to mobility included lack of access to transport services, low ownership of vehicles, dependence on men for transportation needs, unsafe public spaces, and rampant street harassment.
The panelists included Nada Azhar, Secretary, Punjab Commission for the Status of Women (PCSW); Dr. Hadia Majid, Associate Professor, LUMS; Ms. Lalarukh Khan, Program Manager Women’s Mobility, CERP; Zafar Mahmood Chaudhry, Sr. Vice President, Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industries; Ms. Sam Ali Dada, Chairperson Central Standing Committee Women Economic Reforms.
A large number of girls from different educational institutions also attended the dialogue and motorbike rally.
Certificates were distributed among the women and girls who had received the training through the WoW program.