‘Enhanced women’s role to help country develop’

KARACHI: Unilever Pakistan Limited Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shazia Syed says women are a precious asset to Pakistan, who can play an important role in the country’s development and prosperity if we change our mindset.

Talking to the Geo News programme “Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada kay Sath” anchor, she said efforts were on to empower women and eliminate gender disparity. “An increased role of women in all walks of life will help the country gallop on the road to prosperity. Women exude confidence and strong will, and are bravery personified. Seeing women succeeding heartens their peers to follow in their stride. It’s been our endeavour to encourage women so that they can play their role in the development of our society,” Shazia said.

She said women had played an important role in the prosperity of developed countries but the number of women working at different workplaces in Pakistan won’t double unless we give them confidence to cast off fear that constantly stalks them at the workplace.

Shazia said many people wished to see women join their workplace but there was no shortcut or royal road to help them climb up the ladder. “In our organisation, people move up in phases,” she said. In our society, women perform different duties and pursue their professional career while taking care of their children and keeping their marriage intact,” she said.

Answering a question, Unilever Pakistan Limited chief executive said, “Girls themselves fear working at the workplace and we will have to help them get rid of this feeling. The entire family gets involved when a woman joins an organisation. We will have to take all of them along and mobilise the support system for girls.

“It sounds strange when some people of a particular mindset prefer unmarried women for jobs so that they may not go on maternity leave. In such situation, we will have to improve things and make them self-sustaining. Here in Unilever, we have taken some encouraging steps for women’s welfare like allowing them to work from home. The results are very encouraging. We can also introduce daycare centers at the office.” A woman’s beauty gives her trust and confidence. Many or our ad campaigns have been progressive,” she said.