ISLAMABAD: The United States (US) government has announced 500 scholarships for university students from Pakistan's flood-affected districts to assist them in completing their degrees, US Ambassador Donald Blome said on Tuesday, addressing an event with regard to the International Women's Day. 

Devastating floods last summer killed more than 1,700 Pakistanis, affected over 33 million and caused around $30 billion economic losses. The deluges at one point submerged a third of the South Asian country and damaged critical infrastructure, including educational institutes. 

In partnership with Pakistan's Higher Education Commission, the US has awarded more than 6,000 scholarships to Pakistani students through its Merit- and Needs-Based Scholarship Program, with 60 percent of those scholarships going to women students, according to the US embassy in Islamabad. 

Ambassador Blome announced the fresh batch of scholarships for Pakistani students at an event celebrating the achievements of female scholars at the HEC on Tuesday, with regard to the International Women's Day. 

“International Women's Day not only serves as a day to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements made by our mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, and daughters,” the US ambassador said. 

"It is also a call to action to accelerate gender parity and to dismantle gender stereotypes." 

Present at the event were Pakistan's Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, HEC Chairman Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, National Disaster Management Authority Chairman Lt Gen Inam Haider Malik, USAID Mission Director Reed Aeschliman, university vice chancellors, students and alumni. 

“Pakistan has suffered from catastrophic floods where millions of people lost their homes and livelihoods,” Iqbal said. "The humanitarian response by the United States and other donors is commendable. We welcome U.S. support for flood-affected students." 

The HEC chairman lauded the US government for its support to strategic sectors in Pakistan, especially the higher education.   

“Not only have these scholarships helped secure university education for many underprivileged students, lifting themselves and their families out of poverty, they have helped supply Pakistan with crucial skills and knowledge sets to drive the economy,” Ahmed said. 

Jennifer Andleeb, a scholarship alumna, shared the challenges she faced in attaining higher education and how this scholarship transformed the trajectory of her life.   

She emphasized that positive changes in society could only happen by investing in education, and that empowered, educated women were critical to ensuring a brighter future for Pakistan.