ISLAMABAD (Jan 29, 2021): Vulnerable migrant women must be included in the National Socio-Economic Registry (NSER) so that they may receive support through national and local level social protection schemes such as BISP and Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program.
This requirement was highlighted by Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri, the Executive Director of Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) while addressing a workshop titled “Climate induced migration in Pakistan”, held in Islamabad on Thursday. The purpose of the workshop was to create awareness among journalists reporting on climate change. A group of journalists based in Islamabad attended the workshop.
“Provision of safe shelters, medicines, food and water during disasters should be the top priority of the government,” Dr Suleri said, adding that females forced to migrate (internal displacement) due to climate change face a number of issues ranging from a lack of access to health and education, insufficient availability of food and evacuation to bonded labour etc.
Ms Maryam Shabbir Abbasi, Environmentalist at SDPI, stressed the need for a gender responsive policy for climate induced female migration. Ms Abbasi stated that women face issues of harassment and rape during disasters and these should be controlled by taking measures at a higher level. Ms Abassi also underlined that pregnant women can lose their babies due to disasters and that their health is greatly impacted.
The workshop highlighted all these issues and presented a way forward based on the research recently conducted by SDPI in collaboration with Climate Action Network South Asia (CANSA), as part of the South Asia Migration and Climate (SAMAC) project. The project is funded by the European Union through the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) managed project titled: ‘Improving Migration Management in the Silk Routes Countries.’