PESHWAR: Speakers at a seminar here on Tuesday stressed the need for increasing female literacy to alleviate poverty and improve health indicators both for mother and child.

The seminar titled `Investment in teenage girls` was organised by population welfare department at Peshawar Press Club.

Fazal Nabi Khan, the secretary of population welfare department, Lubna Tajik, provincial coordinator of UNFPA, Dr Najma Sultana, technical project director of UNFPA, population welfare department, and Dr Said Gul,deputy director health department, addressed the seminar.

Dr Najma Sultana said on the occasion that educated mothers could create more opportunities foreducation oftheirchildren.

`Due to early marriages in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, around 10.5 per cent teenage mothers take child bearing which is highest as compared to other provinces of the country,` she added.

Dr Najma said that almost 7.9 per cent adolescent mothers started child bearing at national level while teenage pregnancy and early marriages had dire consequences. `Child born to young mothers are normally prone to illness,` she added.

Dr Najma said early marriage denied the girls the opportunity to complete education and skill development. She said that educated and skilled girls could play a vital role in development.

She said that promotion of female education could reducematernal and infant mortality rate. She urged both private and public educational institutions to provide skill development courses to the students to increase job opportunities for future mothers.

Speaking on the occasion, Fazal Nabi Khan said that government was committed to achieving goals of `family planning 2020`.

Investment in female education would largely contribute in that noble cause,he added.

Mr Khan said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the first province of the country to approve population policy after devolution of power to the federating units.

Lubna Tajik said that teenage girls faced more challenges as compared to teenage boys. It would be a positive sign for the community and state to make girls more empowered to use their potential, she added.

She said that male dominant society did not allow girls todevelop their human capabilities. She added that lack of emphasis on importance of female education was one of the main causes of gender inequality in the country.

Ms Tajik said that the number of schools for boys had been double at all levels than those for girls both in public as well as private sector. She said that Human Development Report listed Pakistan in the category of low human development countries as it was ranked 147th in the entire world in term of human development.

`Positive policymaking and investment in education, health and economic sector will lead to create more job opportunities and skill enhancement for teenage girls,` said Ms Tajil(.

She said that UNFPA was committed to providing support to partners and government in planning to empower teenage girls through dif ferent initiatives.