Embassies of Germany and France in Islamabad jointly hosted Pakistani female journalists to mark Women’s Day
Islamabad – On the occasion of International Women’s Day, German Ambassador Bernhard Schlagheck and French Ambassador Dr. Marc Barety hosted a joint lunch for Pakistani female journalists at the German Embassy today.
The gathering offered an occasion to discuss the vital role that journalism plays in every democratic society and to exchange views on the challenges it is facing today. These challenges range from corporate transformation processes, media regulations to guaranteeing safe, ethical and independent journalism.
The ambassadors of Germany and France, during the meeting, underlined that “The role of women in society is essential — not only from a social but also from an economic point of view. Like in other countries of the world, the gender gap in Pakistan should be reduced and eventually bridged. However, today’s meeting again demonstrated that Pakistan has many senior female journalists as well as promising young talents in its media sector who will surely be an inspiration for other women.”
They appreciated the contribution of Pakistani female journalists towards contributing to a democratic, just and peaceful society.
Among the guests were renowned women journalists including some of the winners of 2019 Agahi media awards, recognized in fields like media ethics, human rights, entrepreneurship, identity and sports reporting as well as the founder and president of Agahi Foundation, a non-profit organization aimed at encouraging investigative and independent journalism in Pakistan.
The slogan of International Women’s Day 2020 is “I am Generation Equality: Realising Women ‘s Rights”. It is aligned with UN Women’s new multigenerational campaign, Generation Equality, which marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration on Women and Platform for Action.
To pave the way forward for the gender equality commitments made in Beijing in 1995, a Generation Equality Forum convened by UN Women will be organized on 7-8 May in Mexico and will culminate in Paris two months later on 7-10 July 2020.
The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of 1995 is the most visionary agenda for the human rights of women and girls in which 189 governments committed to take bold action in 12 critical areas of concern: poverty, education and training, health, violence, armed conflict, economy, power and decision-making, institutional mechanisms, human rights, media, environment, and the girl child.