‘Be Bold For Change’

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

Islamabad

Today the world is marking International Women's Day - 'a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.' The theme for this year, as put by the UN is 'Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030, with the hash-tag, 'Be Bold For Change,' asking women to call on the masses, or call on themselves, to help forge a better working world - a more inclusive, gender equal world.

The World Economic Forum predicted in 2014 that gender equality would take until 2095 to achieve. Then one year later they estimated that a slowdown in the pace of progress meant the gender gap wouldn't close entirely until 2133! It reminds of the saying that has been applied to this struggle since day one - 'one step forward, two steps back!'

Some key targets of the 2030 agenda are: to ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development care so that they are ready for primary education to which they should have access; end all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere; eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation and eliminate all other harmful practices, such as early and forced marriage.

Though progress towards gender parity has slowed all over, especially in this part of the world, with Pakistan ranked the second worst country in the world for gender equality last year by the World Economic Forum's global gender gap, we do have something to celebrate today with the present government, surprisingly, taking some positive steps for women's empowerment, much against the wishes of the religious right. As acknowledged by a few other world bodies there have been important advances in gender equality in Pakistan in recent years - Pakistani women today are more likely to participate in the labour force and decision-making and access health and education services, than their mothers and grandmothers.

So along with the resolve to 'be bold for change' we have to work hard to make sure that naysayers do not prevail in pressurizing the present dispensation to undo what has been done. Hopefully, with the many programmes planned around the country elaborating and acting on the theme, this special day for women will end with more hope and determination to fight the good fight and make the distant dream come true, if not for us then the next generation of women.