Dubai: Sharjah’s Women Adavcement Establishment (NAMA) and UNHCR has signed an agreement to offer sustainable income to female Afghani artisans in refugees camps in Pakistan.
Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Wife of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, Chairperson of NAMA and UNHCR Eminent Advocate for Refugee Children, has concluded a comprehensive visit to Pakistan. The visit entailed meetings with several entities and institutions in major cities of Islamabad and Lahore, and identifying sectors that will benefit from NAMA’s expertise in women’s capacity-building and enabling them access to sustainable sources of income.
NAMA is a Sharjah-based public non-profit organisation that believes that women are important human capital and works towards advancing them.
A key highlight of Sheikha Jawaher Al Qasimi’s visit was her witnessing the signing of a partnership agreement between NAMA and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which will offer sustainable income to female Afghani carpet weavers in the city of Quetta in Balochistan, which hosts the second-highest percentage of Afghan refugees.
The agreement signing led by Reem BinKaram, Director of NAMA and Ruvendrini Menikdiwela, UNHCR’s representative in Pakistan, in the presence of Hamad Obaid Al Zaabi, UAE Ambassador to Pakistan.
Under the terms of this partnership agreement, a one-year crafts-led project will be led by Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council (Irthi), an affiliate of NAMA, in collaboration with UNHCR to benefit 100 women — including 70 Afghani women refugees and 30 women from the host community of Quetta, who will be commissioned by Irthi to create carpets bearing motifs that reflect the richness and diversity of Emirati culture and heritage. The designs will be exclusive to Irthi.
Pakistan hosts more than 1.4 million registered Afghans who have been forced to flee their homes, of which 68 per cent are women. Among these women, around 22 per cent fall in the 18 — 59 years age category.
“In these numbers, Sharjah and NAMA identified a pressing need for vocational training, livelihood creation and socioeconomic empowerment,” Sheikha Jawaher noted, adding, “Even as the global humanitarian crisis touches an unprecedented extreme, I believe there is something each of us can do, especially with regard to women as, world over, they are disproportionately affected by war, crisis and displacement.”
This six-day visit to Pakistan is reflective of Sheikha Jawaher’s unparalleled promptness in acting on the pledge His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, took last December at the Women’s Economic Empowerment Global Summit 2019, asserting he would, “personally support programmes and efforts to empower women around the world, particularly in Africa, Asia and Latin America”.
Sheikha Jawaher said: “At NAMA Women Advancement Establishment, all our efforts are geared towards the creation of an equitable world for women. True human empowerment is achieved when our willingness to uplift those in need is not perceived as a choice, but practised as a way of life. This is what Pakistan has done for the past 40 years with regards to offering asylum to Afghan refugees. We cannot be reluctant in our response to assisting nations who have been facing the challenges and consequences large-scale humanitarian crises, such as Pakistan.”
Irthi conducted a feasibility study in the lead up to the signing to determine ways to achieve maximum impact from the project, and a framework for implementation was agreed upon by both entities.
100 women support
“With 100 women and their families who will be benefited by this programme, NAMA seeks to expand the outreach of its sustainable solutions designed and implemented to make women self-reliant and gain permanent livelihood opportunities. With such targeted programmes, we will continue building the resilience of women living in the most challenging of circumstances and advance their role as key human resources,” she added.