President for empowering women by providing them property ownership rights

Islamabad, Sep 08, 2021: President Dr Arif Alvi has emphasized the need for empowering women by providing them rights of ownership and possession of properties. He said that Islam had granted property rights to women but, regrettably, they had been kept deprived of their rights in certain areas of the country.

He made these remarks while chairing a meeting regarding the enforcement of women’s property rights, at Aiwan-e-Sadr, today. Minister for Law and Justice, Senator Dr Muhammad Farogh Naseem, MNA, Ms Maleeka Ali Bokhari, Secretary Law and Justice, Raja Naeem Akbar, Federal Ombudsman for Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace, Ms Kashmala Tariq, Ombudsperson Punjab, Ms Nabila Ali Khan, Executive Director of the Group Development Pakistan, Ms Valerie Khan, and senior officials of the Government attended the meeting.

The meeting was briefed about the Enforcement of Women’s Property Rights Acts passed by the Federal Government in 2020, the Government of Punjab in 2021, and the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2019. The President expressed the hope that the implementation of these acts would empower women and grant them financial autonomy.

He also underlined the need to develop and strengthen the institutions of Federal and Provincial Ombudspersons to enforce these acts in letter and spirit ensuring the protection of the rights of ownership and possession of properties owned by women.

Ms Kashmala Tariq informed the meeting that her institution had received 116 complaints since the enforcement of the Women’s Property Rights Act, 2020. Out of 116 complaints, 15 cases were pending while the rest had been sent to concerned quarters for appropriate action, she added.

Ms Nabila Ali Khan apprised the meeting that 250 cases had been received by the Ombudsperson Punjab and serious steps were being taken for their redressal.

The meeting also highlighted the need to launch an awareness campaign through media as well as engage the Ulema to educate the people about the role of Ombudspersons in protecting women’s property rights.