Identification of hiccups can help empower women

Islamabad : Farhatullah Babar, Secretary-General, , has said that only by identifying roadblocks, women can be economically empowered as Pakistan is an overly-legislated country and just faces severe implementation challenges.

The former Senator was addressing here a Public-Private Dialogue on “Gender focused Economic Reforms,” organised by Centre for Research and Security Studies. The event was also attended by private sector representatives along with the representatives of State Bank, SMEDA and civil society.

Mr Babar said that He said that the informal sector – comprising nearly 8.5 million workers with a significant woman percentage – needs to be recognised and regulated. He said that the womens’ economic participation issue is inseparable from their other issues. We need to have a very clear idea as to what inhibits women’s’ economic empowerment. We all know that women are subjected to violence, discrimination of identity and inequality before law and it’s a fact that a large number of women are disenfranchised as the society refuses to give them their due right to work, discouraging them to collectively voice their concerns.

Mr Babar said that there is no recognition of their domestic work and economic contribution in the informal sector. Even if recognised, they face issues like non-payment and under-payment.

He observed that the ILO Convention 189 – though signed but not ratified – calls for recognition of women’s’ domestic work.

PPP MNA Dr Nafisa Shah said that the recent gender gap ranking of Pakistan is quite alarming. The womens’ poor economic participation is one of the major reasons that contribute to Pakistan’s socio-economic and political issues, she said. The women are explicitly excluded from the economic sector. However, it must be realised that the economic exclusion of women is as bad as the discrimination against women, she said.

Women’s’ economic inclusion requires an all-encompassing approach with as basic measures as starting with the queries like how many women are National Identity Card holders, have a formal financial status, financial literacy, access to credit and formal banking. But unfortunately, the formal banking is a ‘no-go’ area for a majority of rural women, she lamented.

Ms Nafisa said that the micro financing facilities offered to women entrepreneurs should be cognizant of their needs such as low-interest loans facilities and minimum capital requirement. The higher interest rates and inadequate micro financing equate to financial discrimination.

Masooma Sibtain, former Vice President, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry called for the robust feedback of private sector on the potential avenues for enhanced economic participation of women given the impending SME policy and Strategic Trade Policy Framework and their importance to reduce the alarming gender gap and add to the Pakistan’s GDP by about 30%.