Pakistan committed to women’s rights, gender equality

Islamabad:Dr Shafqat Munir Ahmed, Deputy Executive Director, Sustainable Development Policy Institute, has said that Pakistan is an active participant in the Beijing+30 Forum striving to uphold women’s rights and drive global commitments to gender equality.

Dr Munir was addressing a Seminar on International Women’s Day organised by SDPI here Monday. Dr Munir highlighted that Pakistan has made progress in meeting gender equity and women empowerment goals amid persisting major structural, legal and cultural barriers. He highlighted that patriarchal and structural mindsets remain major barriers, embedding a system that continues to sideline women. He added that to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration, three reports were launched, all of which concluded that the world had failed to meet its targets and remains far from achieving SDG-5 (Gender Equality). However, he said that UN, Unicef and UNITAD reports, observed that while women’s participation in various sectors increased, their overall status remains unsatisfactory. He noted that gender inequality is not just a developing world issue, as countries like the United States are also grappling with similar challenges.

Sadia Satti from SDPI, shared alarming statistics claiming that nearly 19 million children in Pakistan fall prey to early child marriage. Women under 10 years old mostly remain unpaid for their work. Women’s representation in politics stands at 20.5% of parliamentary seats and female labour force participation fluctuates between 21-26%, the lowest in South Asia, with a 38% gender gap in mobile phone ownership and internet usage.

She mentioned that Commission on Status of Women (CSW) Beijing+30 review will be conducted at national and international levels. While Pakistan has enacted several gender-focused legislations from 2020-23, implementation gaps persist, she added.

Barira Hanif, member, Planning Ministry, shed light on ‘Uraan Pakistan’, a newly launched initiative aimed at promoting equity and gender empowerment alongside economic development. Saman Ahsan from UN Women reflected on the Beijing Declaration, recalling that Pakistan was represented by a female Prime Minister when it was passed.

In her concluding remarks, Dr Fareeha Armughan, research fellow at SDPI, emphasised the urgency of shifting from gender-exploitative to comprehensive gender-transformative model. She pointed out that only 5% of women in Pakistan hold leadership roles and women’s solidarity networks are missing, limiting their collective bargaining power.