UK grants £6Mln for UNDP Gender Equality Programme in Pakistan   
By Huma Akbar 'Pakistan Times' Staff Reporter

ISLAMABAD: The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) has committed £6 million to support the UNDP’s Gender Support Programme (GSP).

The agreement was signed today in Islamabad by Mr Haoliang Xu, Country Director United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Dr Yusaf Samiullah, Head of DFID Pakistan.

The funds will support the Government of Pakistan in achieving gender-related goals and commitments, with the aim of reducing poverty in Pakistan by enabling women, especially the poor, to participate more equally in economic, public and domestic spheres.

GSP began in 2003 and has grown to become the largest network of gender projects in Pakistan. £4 million of DFID’s money will go to support on-going and new GSP projects to increase women’s socio-economic status, make government institutions and policies more gender-fair, and increase women’s participation and leadership in politics.

With the remaining £2 million of DFID’s contribution, a Gender, Justice and Protection Fund will be set up, with the specific aim of supporting joint government and civil society efforts to tackle violence against women.

Three main areas of work will be to raise awareness among men, women and officials who have the responsibility to respond to incidents of violence, strengthen community support systems and referral systems for women who have suffered violence, and provide support for the victims of violence.

Speaking to the press, Haoliang Xu said “Violence against women has a high social and economic cost for society; it constitutes a major loss of productive labour in the economy, limits their participation in the development process and reduces their capacity to access resources and services.

Therefore it is pertinent that all means are taken to remove this menace from the society of today.”

Dr Yusaf Samiullah said “We are delighted to support this essential work being carried out by UNDP.

Serious Challenge

The status of women in Pakistan is a serious challenge to poverty reduction and we are particularly pleased to throw our weight behind efforts to tackle the tragic issue of violence against women.”

UNDP’s GSP has been under implementation since 2004 in partnership with Economic Affairs Division (EAD), Ministry of Women Development and other line ministries.

Due to the success of its pilot projects, the Gender Support Programme has been upscaled significantly in recent months.

To date, the Royal Norwegian Embassy, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Corporation (SDC) as well as UNDP have provided financial resources for its implementation.●