Steps being taken for women empowerment: Zardari

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari Friday said the democratic government had taken a number of steps for women empowerment, eliminate all forms of discrimination against them and was even considering to appoint them judges in the judiciary.

He was addressing a signing ceremony here at Aiwan-e-Sadr, to conclude one million signatures campaign, to increase awareness about violence against the women which was attended by a large number of women, members of the federal cabinet, parliamentarians, representatives of NGOs and foreign diplomats.

The President said the democratic government, inspired and guided by the vision of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto to end the exploitation of women, passed a number of legislation to ensure the rights of women and their empowerment in the true sense.

President Zardari said during the tenure of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan became signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of the Discrimination Against Women.

He said the present government has accorded priority to addressing the issue of discriminatory laws against women and concerted efforts are being made to eliminate abuse of women in all its forms, with active involvement of women parliamentarians and representatives of civil society organizations.