QUETTA:Parliamentarians, economists, and civil society representatives of Balochistan have emphasized the need to link the ‘Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5’ to the formulation of the provincial budget based on gender equality.
“A gender responsive budget and equal distribution of resources would help achieve sustainable development goals effectively”, they said during a consultative session held on the progress of Gender Responsive Budget (GRB) and Compliance with the Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and SDG 5 under the auspices of Asghar Khan Foundation and Shirkat Gah.
Acting Deputy Speaker, Balochistan Assembly, Sardar Babar Musa Khel, Provincial Minister for Sports and Culture Abdul Khaliq Hazara, Parliamentary Secretary, Law and Parliamentary Affairs, and Chairperson Women Parliamentary CAUCUS Dr Rubaba Khan Buledi, Parliamentary Secretary, Minority Affairs, George Khalil, Shahina Kakar, Chairman of the Standing Committee for Local Government Qadir Nail, MPA Nasrullah Zere, Bano Khalil, Fauzia Shaheen, Chairperson Commission on Status of Women, Economist Qaiser Bengali, Executive Director of Umar Asghar Khan Foundation, Rashida Dohad and Executive Director of Shirkat Gah Fareeda Shahid addressed the session.
Farida Shaheed shed light on the progress in Pakistan related to the goals of CEDAW and SGD 5 and presented suggestions for their implementation.
Whereas, Rashida Dohad presented an analytical report on the budget of Balochistan for the fiscal year 2022-2023 and gave practical suggestions to align the budget allocated to various sectors with gender equality, which the participants agreed with.
She said that the gap in the public welfare projects in the provincial budget of Balochistan would be gradually eliminated by reducing the gender gap.
She noted that the Umar Asghar Khan Foundation has presented the best analysis of Balochistan’s budget. “If implemented, by linking the resources available in the provincial budget to the SDGs, not only gender-based discrimination can be eliminated, but it can also help achieve the SDGs”, she stressed.
The other speakers, including parliamentarians and members of civil society, said that the problems faced by the people could be eliminated by ensuring the provision of resources at the grassroots level through the Provincial Finance Commission.
Addressing the closing ceremony, Dr Rubaba Khan Buledi said that the infrastructure of the forensic lab in Balochistan had almost been completed, the legislation was also in progress, and “we are trying to bring it to completion as soon as possible.”
She said that a better implementation plan would be made to maintain gender equality in the projects proposed by the Department of Science and Information Technology.