ISLAMABAD: Speakers at a panel discussion hosted by Pakistan at the United Nations headquarters this week demanded women living under foreign occupation, especially those in Palestine and Indian-administered Kashmir, be given their due rights and protection against atrocities, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported.
Pakistan hosted the side event as part of the ongoing 68th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68) at the UN Headquarters in New York on Monday.
Titled “Women Under Foreign Occupation,” the event was attended by members of the UN diplomatic community, women rights organizations, academia, and rights activists.
Prominent members who attended the discussion included Algerian Ambassador Amar Bendjama, Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Ambassador to the UN Hameed Ajibaiye Opeloyeru, Dr. Dalal Kanaan, a professor at Fordham University, New York, and Dr. Ameena Zia, another professor at CUNY Lehman College.
Several countries, peace activists and international organizations have called for peace in Palestine, where Israel has killed over 31,000 people since Oct. 7, 2023.
Nearly 9,000 of the total casualties from Israel’s war on Gaza are confirmed to be women.
Islamabad has also called for the right to self-determination of people living in Indian-administered Kashmir.
The disputed Himalayan territory has remained a bone of contention between India and Pakistan, with both claiming the territory in full but administering only parts of it.
“Prominent speakers at a panel discussion, hosted by Pakistan’s Mission to the UN, Monday called for greater global efforts, including uniform implementation of the UN resolutions, treaties and conventions, to end the situations of foreign occupation and conflicts facing women around the world, especially in Jammu and Kashmir and Palestine,” the APP said.
Panelists demanded that all future UN reports and Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security agenda should include provisions and information relating to the situation of women and girls under foreign occupation.
They proposed the creation of a UN monitoring mechanism to register all crimes and violations committed against women and girls under foreign occupation, the state-run media said.
The Gaza Health Ministry said on Mar. 8 that 60,000 pregnant women in the densely populated territory were suffering from dehydration and malnutrition.
“Referring to the grave ongoing situation in Gaza, they urged accelerated humanitarian and other efforts to provide relief and assistance, including food, medicines and medical services, to women living under the Israeli occupation,” APP said.
Pakistan’s top diplomat at the UN, Ambassador Munir Akram, stressed the need to address “extreme and disproportionate” suffering of women and girls in situations of foreign occupation and intervention. He said the issue had been overlooked in global efforts to promote women’s rights.
Algerian Ambassador Bendjama demanded global efforts to help women in Palestine against rights abuses.
“He said the world couldn’t ignore the plight of Palestinian women as they faced the worst Israeli brutality,” APP said. “And called for the global efforts to address gravest women rights abuses in Occupied Palestinian Territories, especially in Gaza.”