Bilawal calls for stopping crimes against women living under foreign occupation

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has emphasized that peace and security strategy will remain incomplete so long as the acute dimension of the plight of women under foreign occupation was not addressed frontally and vigorously, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Wednesday.

The foreign minister stated this during a high-level debate on ‘Women, Peace and Security’, sponsored by Mozambique in its capacity as the 15-member Council’s President for March in the UN Security Council in New York. 

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has underscored the need for establishing a monitoring mechanism for crimes committed against women and girls in territories under foreign occupation, including Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Israeli Occupied Palestinian territories.

He said that women are directly being affected by wars and being targeted in conflict zones like Iraq, Ukraine, and Afghanistan.

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He stressed upon the international community to work for the Afghan women education and their security. 

He said the most egregious atrocities and crimes against women and girls occur in situations of foreign occupation and suppression of the right to self-determination to peoples.

The foreign minister held that the women, peace and security strategy would remain incomplete so long as the acute dimension of the plight of women under foreign occupation was not addressed frontally and vigorously.  

Bilawal said the very object of violence in situation of foreign occupation was to suppress the civilian population which is manifested most vividly in the occupied Palestinian territories and in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari flew into New York Tuesday morning to begin a 5-day visit during which he will preside over a conference on ‘Women in Islam’ on Wednesday (today) on the sidelines of the 67th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).

He was received at New York’s John F Kennedy International airport by Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram, Deputy Permanent Representative Aamir Khan, Consul General Ayesha Ali, and officials of the Pakistan Mission to the UN.

The stated objective of the conference is to bridge the perception-reality gap on the rights of women in Islam and celebrate the experiences and successes of iconic Muslim women. It is aimed at establishing an annual policy dialogue to address challenges and explore opportunities to advance the role of women role in OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation)countries.

Titled “Women in Islam: Understanding the Rights and Identity of Women in the Islamic World”, FM Bilawal will open the high-level segment of the conference with an address.

He will be followed by the UN General Assembly President, Csaba Korosi; OIC Secretary General, Hissein Braham Taha; Executive Director of UN-Women, Sima Bahous; Chairperson of 67th CSW, South African Ambassador Mathu Joyini; dignitaries and representatives of the OIC member states.

Also participating in the conference will be non-OIC states and representatives of UN agencies.

The outcome document will be a chair’s summary of the deliberations.

On Friday, in pursuit of the General Assembly landmark resolution 76/254 designating March 15 as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, the General Assembly president and the foreign minister will be co-convening a special high-level event to commemorate the day.

The 193-member Assembly’s resolution followed the OIC Foreign Ministers resolution of 2020 designating 15 March as an international day to combat Islamophobia.

During his visit, the FM Bilawal will also hold meetings with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the General Assembly president.

He will also brief the UN and International Press on the outcome of the Pakistan-sponsored events.