LAHORE: The Women on Wheels (WOW), the initiative of Strategic Reforms Unit (SRU), the government of Punjab has trained around 3,500 women free-of-charge in five districts of Punjab since it was introduced in 2015, SRU Director General Salman Sufi.
The initiative was taken in order to ensure gender equality, reclaiming public spaces for women and to provide freedom of mobility to 49% women in the province, he said while speaking to the participants of the 7th edition of the City Dialogue ‘Why Women on Wheel’ held by Urban Unit on Saturday.
Introduced in 2015, the WOW intends to train 40,000 more women in the coming months. The second phase is all set to introduce subsidised motorcycle scheme exclusively for women in Punjab.
Sufi said that the SRU has introduced 30 such reforms since progressive societies depend on women’s development and initiatives to groom them. “Women are the face of progressive Pakistan and it was time they start recognising the fact that they own the country as much the men do,” he said. He said it was also imperative for Pakistan as a society to portray its peace-loving image instead of negative propaganda against the country by certain sectors.
A large number of students from various universities, researchers and transport engineers attended the event.
The City Dialogue is a regular feature of city activities now held every Saturday at 11am at the Quaid e Azam Library. The Urban Unit holds it weekly with an aim to ensure citizens’ inclusion in planning and implementation of the public interest projects and initiatives in the cities.
