Digital education is key to women’s empowerment

Islamabad : At a discussion on “Role of women in contemporary times,” panelists urged for greater participation of women in the field of digital technology.

The discussion was organised here by Institute of Regional Studies in collaboration with Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University.

Nabila Jaffer, research analyst at IRS, emphasised the need for attitude change towards women in Pakistan which she said was necessary for streamlining women’s role in the socio-economic development of the country.

Dr Shabana Fayyaz, chairperson at the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, QAU, said that every country needed to play its role in providing an enabling environment for women in their systems. She observed that laws passed by the government must be implemented in their true spirit so that the longstanding problems of women especially those living in backward areas can be addressed.

Sameena Imtiaz from CRSS urged women to come out of victimhood and focus more on redressal measures as there were various hotlines and safety platforms available that women could exploit.

Dr Salma Malik from QAU said that we needed to learn from the Bangladesh model where women started with participation in small economic activities that eventually resulted in mushrooming growth of small and medium-level women entrepreneurship.

Dr Ayesha Siddiqa from QAU said that a liability mindset about women was one of the root causes besides the internalisation of certain patriarchal ideologies that hindered women's empowerment in our society.

Product designer Roshan Sheikh lamented that the negative image of Pakistani women was more highlighted in international media than the accomplishment part.

Nadeem Riyaz, president, IRS, said that women remained an un-quantifiable part of the economy and that trend needed to be reversed. He stressed that women's empowerment through digital education was the need of the day.