Pakistan : Femmes et Développement

Daily Times
Karachi edition
30/06/06

Women and development

By Prof MS Qadri

Females are half of the economic labour force in the country and commonly play a vital role in society. Women are mostly housewives in our region, but the situation varies considerably by geographical location and society, with a majority living in the rural areas. An average Pakistani woman is beset with the "crippling handicaps of illiteracy, continuous motherhood leading to poor health". Important challenges to confront women in Pakistan are; increasing practical literacy, gaining access to employment opportunities at all levels in the economy, promoting change in the perception of women's role and status and gaining a public voice both within and outside the political process.

Women are far off the mainstream daily economic, social and political life. A coherent programme and deliberate policies are essentially needed to narrow the gap. Women's access to health and education is severely limited with a literacy rate of only 25 percent. The trends in health and education sectors in the past have not been encouraging. Women's participation in the economic arena was disproportionately low, only 28 percent of the country's labour force. Women are also confronted with issues, such as abuse, distress, cultural barriers and traditions, including heinous crimes such as karokari, honour killing, etc.

Moreover, the gap between male and female literacy rates has widened, resulting in a lack of awareness among women. Educated women have fewer children and good care providers, who provide better nutrition and health-care practices for their families. They have access to income generation and are far more likely to educate their children than women with little or no schooling. Several studies have shown that female education can also contribute significantly to participation and productivity.

Pakistan has also a very low level of women workforce participation.

The economics benefits of female employment are clear: more women working increases a nation's output and is an important contributor to household income. Female control of resources results in a greater positive impact on child survival, nutrition, and school enrolments than does male. Simply women tend to invest more in the human capital of their children than do men. The impact of long-term development is obvious.

Gender roles and responsibilities reflect the weight of culture and tradition, and require consistent efforts to change the scenario. Despite numerous odds, the government initiated diverse but important gender measurements. These were necessitated for sustained economic growth of the country.

Female labour force participation in the formal sectors is about 15 percent, which in a country like Bangladesh is almost 57 percent. Increasing women in the workforce is both a challenge and an opportunity for Pakistan, and a clearly persued policy in the recent past. Literacy and evolution levels are major obstacles in formal sector participation of women. The literacy and education levels are gradually increasing while showing a narrowing trend in the gender gap. Steady over the past five years, the female enrolment has increased from 38 to 47 percent during the period.

Some major and bold initiatives of the government have been to engender governance structure at all federal and provincial levels. The Gender Reform Action Plan (GRAP) was a major initiative during the year and a component of the Medium Term Development Framework (MTDF) in this direction.

The national GRAP seeks to address some of the significant gender gaps through reforms in four key areas:

1) Political reforms

2) Administrative / institutional reforms

3) Reforms in public sector employment and

4) Policy and fiscal reforms.

The Economic Empowerment of women has been the second major initiative. The overall objective of the programme is economic empowerment of the rural women relevant to their area skills. The component programme of the National Fund for Advancement of Women is being implemented in all the four provinces on pilot basis.

Women in Distress has been a priority of the government, and aims to provide free counselling, legal aid and medical facilities to the women in distress. The net is gradually being expanded in different locations across the country, with 18 crisis centres presently operating. These crisis centres in different cities provide relief and support on an emergency basis and rehabilitate the survivors of violence and women in distress. These crisis centres are very effectively providing medical aid, social counselling, help investigate cases of violence, establishing linkages with law-enforcement agencies/police complaint cells, Training of micro-credit entrpreneurship, rehabilitation through micro-finance and provision of interest-free credit etc. The government has taken prevention of violence against women as a national commitment through information, education and support to the society. A national committee on prevention of violence against women was formed by the Ministry of Women Development to combat violence against women. The committee is operating through registered volunteers from within the country and overseas.

The National Plan of Action is the third important initiative of the government in 12 areas of concern to achieve the agenda for the empowerment of women. The NPA aims to facilitate women's participation in all spheres of life besides ensuring protection of women's rights within the family and society. The main areas of the NPA's functions are: women and poverty, education and training of women, women and health, violence against women, women and armed conflict, women and economy, women in power and decision-making, institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women, rights of women, women and the media, women and the environment, and the girl child.

Women's political repression in the Senate, National and provincial assemblies and local bodies through enhanced strength made their participation possible in the decision-making process. It is a distinctive, unprecedented step unmatched in the region. Efforts are underway for broader horizontal linkages in line with constitutional provisions for affirmative action required to create a level playing field, through the policy framework developed in MTDF to ensure incorporation of women's concerns in existing national development policies, programmes and initiatives.