International Women’s Day
Every year, the month of March, with the arrival of spring, also heralds the "International Women's Day". Women's rights are discussed through major forums and all media institutions. Demands for women's rights are repeated through articles and reports, and discussions are held on giving women equality, freedom, and financial independence compared to men. However, women who become fuel for the fields, beat the dust on the roads, work in brick kilns, and are domestic servants are unaware of all these activities and just wander around searching for two meals a day.
The day of March 8 passes, and no one remembers women's rights for the remaining 364 days of the year. Some of the groups worldwide organize activities for the welfare of women and play an active role in political and social service work with the help of expert women in every field of life.
These women are simultaneously subordinates to their organization leader and empowered to run their organization. We want to see women in our society educated and walking on the path of progress. Along with this, we should also uphold our religious and social traditions and teachings. There is a famous Arabic proverb.
Woman is the pillar of the building of civilization.
“Al-Nisa Imad Al-Bilad” means “Woman is the pillar of the building of civilization.” We want to protect and strengthen this pillar and see its active role in society. This year too, the different Women’s Circle, various NGO’s and political parties all over the the world including Pakistan, with its continuous ongoing series, has organized various programs for Women’s Day, while this year’s “International Women’s Day” is titled “Wherever the world is, it is with you.”
A woman is not just a person; she is a beautiful color of life, without which the picture of the world is incomplete and dull. Her love, sincerity, and sacrifice give meaning to beauty, loyalty, and emotion in life. If a woman is a daughter, she is merciful; if a sister, she is respected; if a wife, she is love; and if a mother, she takes on the form of paradise.
The Benefactor of Women ﷺ
Man, due to his ignorance, showed his lack of ability in determining his status and position, while the Benefactor of women ﷺ welcomed him with his prayer and pleasant fragrance and enriched him with the wealth of faith, authority, freedom, and importance.
Now, his various statuses are being used to populate the world and play an active role in society.
She could not write the dialogues of Plato, but Plato is ready with her intellectual and practical training. She makes her home a model of paradise with her hard work and love and demonstrates her abilities in every field of life. This year, “Women’s Day” falls on the occasion of Ramadan, so we have decided to use our Quran classes and other ongoing activities during Ramadan to explain the importance of women’s rights in the Holy Quran and to popularize it in society.
The month of March has begun, and on the occasion of "International Women's Day", the voice of women's rights will rise loudly, and conferences will be held, but the fate of women will not change, and they will neither realize their duties nor will they get their rights. Why are we passing on this deprivation, sadness, and disappointment to our generations and are not even ashamed of it? It is a shame that it is increasing.
Street Children
Our children are being called “Street Children” despite the presence of our mothers, and our Muslim women are flaunting their wealth in the shopping malls of Paris and New York. Do we have any idea what kind of crime we are committing? The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who brought religion, first and foremost influenced and transformed women. This word introduced her to the spirit of freedom.
“La ilaha illallah”(There is no God, But Allah)
This “La ilaha illallah”(There is no God, But Allah) freed her from all kinds of fear. This word taught us the foundation of the world and globalism. Our history was also flourishing, and our geography was also expanding. At that time, we were rulers, familiar with knowledge, and Europe was immersed in darkness and ignorance, but what happened to us then? We also became distant from knowledge and fell victim to moral decline.
First, we lost our faith and our Lord; then, we lost our identity, and today, we rejoice in killing each other and causing pain and suffering. We have lost our fertile lands, and we have mortgaged our freedom. Remember, this year's special session of the United Nations for women has been named "Beijing Plus Thirty", meaning the thirtieth anniversary of the Beijing Conference.
Beijing Conference… Fourth World Conference on Women
Good morning. The Platform for Action (BPFA) was approved at the sixteenth plenary session of the Fourth World Conference on Women (September 15, 1995) in Beijing. This platform is of great importance in giving women the right to make decisions. Under it, it was decided to work on 12 important and attention-demanding areas to improve the status of women, women and poverty, education and training, health, violence, women's issues in war and armed conflict, the economy, the role of women in government and decision-making, women's development and management methods, women's human rights, women and the media, the environment and girls, so that a strategy can be set to provide women with basic freedoms, human rights, equal rights with men at all levels and stages in the home and work.
Most importantly, women from all walks of life, from heads of state to the poor, attended the conference, which is considered the largest gathering of women in the 20th century, with nearly 30,000 women in attendance. The conference identified 12 issues that were considered major obstacles to women’s well-being. The fundamental shift that occurred at the Beijing conference was a shift from women’s issues to the idea of equality between women and men.
The conference recognized that the entire structure of society, including all the relationships between women and men, needed to be re-examined because only through restructuring could women gain full power and their place as equal partners in all spheres of life. This fundamental shift reflected the determination that women also have human rights. Also, gender equality is a global issue.
The conference unanimously adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which are milestones in the advancement of women in the 21st century. The UN General Assembly, while endorsing the Platform for Action, urged its subsidiary bodies, international organizations, NGOs, the private sector, and all countries to take effective measures to implement the recommendations of the conference. The UN was also entrusted with the important task of monitoring the implementation of the Platform for Action.
Beijing Plus Five Conference
The Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Women 2000, held five years after the Beijing Conference, was called “Beijing Plus Five,” and was entitled “Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace in the Twenty-First Century.”
The conference was attended by representatives of about 189 countries and about 1,200 NGOs. The purpose of the meeting was to review the implementation of the “Beijing Platform for Action” and to propose and build consensus on new measures to achieve gender equality in the coming years.
At the opening ceremony of the meeting, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that despite the continuous women’s conferences and the promises of governments in the 1990s, gender equality for women remained a dream and an aspiration rather than a reality. In this one week, the United Nations was the center of attention of all the people of the world and the world was able to focus its attention on women's issues better.
We also participated in these discussions. Overall, the role of Muslim countries and their NGOs in this conference was expressing the disintegration of the Muslim Ummah. The role of the Pakistani mission on this occasion was very encouraging. On this occasion, they expressed their determination not to be a part of any action against the interests of Pakistan and then fulfilled it.
The members of the mission played an effective role in preventing new additions to the agreement document by forming a joint block with representatives of other countries such as Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Sudan, Libya, Iran, and even countries practicing Catholic religions, and on this occasion, they vigorously defended the safeguards that were in terms of Islamic and moral values.
Since its proposal for a course of action for women in 1995, it has been the subject of debate in various circles. Muslim societies have reacted strongly to some parts of this document. Although Islamic movements agree on most of its contents that even today’s modern civilization has not granted women the rights they deserve as human beings, and it is also a fact that even in today’s Muslim societies, they do not enjoy the full rights that their Lord, their Messenger (peace be upon him) and their religion granted them.
Islamic countries have strong objections to those parts of this document that are likely to undermine their social and religious values and customs, in which women have been placed in opposition to men or which have seriously endangered the institution of the family.
Women's Circle, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, has been following up on BPFA since 1995, and we are proud that the Women and Family Commission of Jamaat-e-Islami has found ways to find solutions to women's problems according to our religious and social values by making every topic of women a topic of discussion. We are part of a global organization of Muslim women and we hold the presidency of its Asian region. We monitor the global program of the United Nations and make our own plans and implement them according to our religious traditions and social values.
The 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will be held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 10 to 21 March 2025. This session will be held on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted in 1995. It will focus on the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and the review of the outcomes of the 23rd Special Session of the General Assembly.
Final Remarks
Come! Let us celebrate International Women’s Day with renewed determination in such a way that we can be the voice of not only Pakistani women but also of women of the world. Policy-making institutions should give importance to our opinions. A woman can only progress by living in the shelter of her family and relationships full of love and protection. We have to love and respect the oppressed and disadvantaged women of our society and assure them that “wherever is inhabited, it is with you.”
(1).png)