President Zardari has declared he will not be derailed from his domestic priorities of poverty alleviation and women’s empowerment.
At an event at the Governor’s House, the President emphasized his administration’s focus on the core issues facing Pakistanis. He discussed the concept of generational poverty. Families already struggling to make ends meet have no chance but to ask their children find work, thereby disrupting their education and continuing the cycle. We are facing the crisis of poverty. Who knows how much potential or brilliance is lost because our people are forced to work instead of striving for higher education to showcase their abilities? He cited the Benazir Income Support Programme, which was an initiative aimed at relieving some of the burdens of the poorest in our nation.
Another issue close to the President’s heart is that of women’s empowerment. We have to wonder at the fact that the country that voted for the first female Muslim head of state can be so tragically behind the times in women’s rights. There are many strong, articulate, and pro-democracy women in Pakistan, and we have well-respected NGOs working for women’s rights as well. It is with them the President will be working with to slowly but surely bring equal rights to all.
