SARGODHA:(Parliament Times) The University of Sargodha celebrated on Friday the International Women’s Day 2019 in style by organizing seminars, an arts exhibition and a walk to honour and lay stress on women’s significant contribution in national development.
International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8 every year. It is a focal point in the movement for women’s rights. The theme of this year is ‘Balance for Better’.
The festivities and celebrations started from a walk which began from Noon Business School and ended at theAdmin Block. The Vive Chancellor Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad, senior faculty members and a large number of students participated in the walk.
The participants pledged that since gender discrimination creates hindrance in the road to success thus we must ensure gender equality and provision of equal rights to women. They called for eradication of gender disparity in the educational institutions and adoption of inclusive policies for women in rural areas to aid them in improving their life standards.
Speaking on the occasion, the Vice Chancellor highlighted the importance of participation of women in all` fields of life. “No society can grow without the active involvement of women along with the men in economic, social, political and other fields. Their role in national development is very crucial as they build half portion of the population,” he said.
He further emphasized that providing equal opportunities to women to let them excel in their lives is the tradition of successful nations, therefore, we must take practical steps to safeguard women’s rights and garner their input in national development.
A seminar was held to further encourage the girls students to take active parts in all activities of life and fulfill their dreams. A number of renowned successful women of the region including the leadership consultant Dr Rubina Feroz Bhatti, Member of the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women Qaisra Ismail, gender specialist Tahira Rehman Gunjial, Sub-Inspector Punjab Highway Patrolling Police Asma Kiran addressed the seminar.
They emphasized upon the provision of equal rights to women and encouraged the students to break all the barriers in their ways and play their constructive role in the society.
After the seminar, the guests visited the arts exhibition. The vibrant canvases depicted the modesty, delicacy, power, strength and feelings of women through the skillful strokes of the students of the Institute of Fine Arts.
Moreover, a session was also held at the Lincoln Corner Sargodha to celebrate social, economic, cultural and political success of the women. The session was attended by a number of leading women professionals who enlightened the girls students around facing challenges in light of their experiences.
As part of the celebration, bilingual speech contests were also held on the topic of ‘Rights for Women, Rights for All’ during which members of the debating society and students from the Department of English, Urdu and Oriental Languages delivered enlightened speeches. The members of the dramatic society also screened documentaries highlighting achievement of women, violence against women, gender disparity and subjugated state of women.