By Shehzad:
Mingora: A one day informative training session under the theme “Citizen’s Voice “ held here on Thursday in Mingora.
The session was a joint venture of USAID in collaboration with Islampur Cottage Industries Association (ICIA) and was attended by civil society members and journalist at a local hotel in Mingora.
The training session was aimed to educate people about the importance of vote and women participation in electoral process.
Speaking on the occasion Fayaz Ullah, the project manager said, the women participation in Swat district was quite meager in the last general elections held in 2013, where the women share in the total turnout in all constituencies was recorded 7.5 percent, which is a matter of serious concern.
“Women which almost comprised half of the total population didn’t vehemently cast their votes, he said, adding that women participation was indispensable in electoral process and steps are being taken to create awareness about women participation in the polls.
Referring to the struggle done by the civil society organization in making the ground feasible for women participation in the LG polls he said the ICIA had trained volunteers in various constituencies to motivate the masses to allow women with no hesitance to the polling station.
“The people response was positive in this regard and we are expecting better women involvement in the upcoming LG polls,” he said.
Highlighting the factors which kept women away from exercising their constitutional rights of polling he said, the ICIA found out that the local customs and traditions, non-availability of different polling stations for women and lack of proper transportation were the factors dug out in meeting with the elders and political leaders of areas where women were barred from polling previously.
Imam Hassan, another officer at the organization said, training sessions were also arranged for the candidates participating in the upcoming LG polls where they were trained about the intricateness and tricky procedure of polling in LG polls.
Amjad, a candidate of general counsel told The Morning Post about his training that being part of the training session was a good experience for him as he is now able to understand the procedure of LG polls and can guide his voters as well.
