The Pakistani woman

In recent years, there has been a significant change in roles played by women in all walks of life. Women's involvement is now considered to be the link to complete the cycle that result in a collective effort for community benefits. The Pakistani woman of today is educated, developed, social and empowered.
She possesses identity and has major accomplishments in various domains of life. Even in times of hardship and struggle she has survived and proved herself in every way. They are now uniting to protest against injustices, call for improvement in services, and take control of the influences shaping their lives and that of their families.
Today we see working women belonging to all classes making significant progress in various sectors of society, playing an important role in developing environment, culture and economy of the country. They may be a housewife, a corporate executive, an entrepreneur, a politician, a social worker or a media-person, they all work with a purpose; hence they can make a difference. At present there are 22.2 percent women in the National Assembly with 76 seats and with 17 seats women have 17 percent representation in the Senate.
Women are an integral part of society; if given equal opportunities in all the fields of life they can contribute positively in the development of the country. Women in Pakistan have progressed in various fields of life such as politics, education, economy, services and health.
A misconception that women have career only in teaching has perished. Now there is continued rise in the number of women in professional occupations such as medicine, engineering, banking, law and architecture. Pakistan is the only country in the East to have a woman Major-General in the army. And Pakistan is the only Muslim country to have women fighter pilots in its Air Force so we see women in all fields, now we also have female traffic wardens.
This year hundredth International Women's Day was observed all over the world highlighting the participation of women and girls in education, training, science and technology. Beside education, it also focused that women have equal access to full employment and decent work, as educated employed women break poverty cycles, not just for themselves but for families, communities and countries. UNDP's International Assessment report found that educated women are more likely to seek medical care during pregnancy and to ensure their children are healthy and educated girls are also more productive, better paid in the workplace and more able to participate in social, economic and political decision-making and also understand their legal status and rights.
The greatest challenge for a woman of the 21st century is to raise the income of her household and to bring prosperity. Women are now coming out of their houses to work side by side with men and play an important role in stabilizing the economy of Pakistan. The rural women who earn a living while working from their homes are usually not properly trained and do not focus on quality work as well and also lack marketing skills. They need awareness of the economics involved in the businesses. The country is full of talented women. And women need to be recognised as active and productive members of society for the economy to function successfully.
Women entrepreneurs need opportunity to meet, interact, vocalise and assert themselves as good business women. The greater number of women participation particularly their direct and dynamic role in the economic activities of the country, must be encouraged.
There is enormous potential in women entrepreneurs of Pakistan and if good opportunities are available for them they can make a difference. It is also necessary to provide guidelines to women artisans and small-scale manufacturers to explore markets for their antique design goods and handmade articles. There is a requirement to arrange for training programmes on regular basis for the business women to get an opportunity and explore export markets of their value added home-made, décor, clothing, and other products.
Women and politics: With the advent of the Pakistan Movement, women's participation in the freedom struggle became a dire necessity, both for increasing the Muslim vote bank and for displaying numerical strength at the Muslim League's political rallies. It shows that the women of Pakistan began playing an active role in community politics and as social reformers as early as 1935. That was the time when the Muslim League included women representation and women like Shaista Ikramullah and Begum Raana Liaquat Ali Khan actively assumed political roles and laid the foundations of creating political consciousness among women.
In 1940 Mr Jinnah announced, "Women are supposed to create a sense of general political consciousness. They should stand shoulder to shoulder with men in practical politics. With Pakistan's emergence in 1947, many women volunteer organisations also emerged. Miss Fatima Jinnah and Begum Liaquat Ali Khan became familiar figures at educational institutes and social forums urging women to focus on education and to incorporate themselves into society to work for the country's progress. Miss Fatima Jinnah formed the Women's Relief Committee, which played a vital role in the settlement of refugees in the new state of Pakistan.
In 1964, after Khwaja Nazimuddin died, the Combined Opposition Parties (COP) nominated Miss Jinnah as their presidential candidate. This, one courageous decision, raised the threshold of political ambitions amongst the female politicians of the Subcontinent to the very highest levels. Her decision played a major role in motivating Mrs Indira Gandhi to become Prime Minister of India a few years later.
In 1948, in the immediate aftermath of Independence, two very determined lady members of Pakistan's Constituent Assembly, Begum Shaista Ikram Ullah and Begum Jahan Ara Shahnawaz, managed to achieve a phenomenal level of political success for the women of Pakistan.
Then in 1988 the history of the Muslim World was written by Benazir Bhutto who became the first woman elected to lead a Muslim state at the age of 35. Having twice been Prime Minister of Pakistan (1988-1990; 1993-1996), she was Pakistan's first and to date only female prime minister.
The parliamentary history of Pakistan turned in April 2008 as the PPP has nominated Dr Fahmida Mirza from Sindh as the first-ever woman speaker of the National Assembly. In the parliamentary history of Pakistan, Dr Begum Ashraf Abbasi was the first-ever woman to be elected deputy speaker of the National Assembly. According to a recent data (31st January 2011) by the Inter Parliamentary Union, Pakistan is ranked 51 among 188 countries classified by the percentage of women in the Senate.
In addition, many women have been sent as ambassadors to various countries. These are very bold and positive steps that herald the beginning of a whole new chapter in the political participation of women in Pakistan. It is now the duty of women parliamentarians to take meaningful steps to solve women's issues and problems. At present we can see an increase in women participation at all levels of society and also their presence on a large scale in the assemblies. Today, women voters are registered to be nearly 50 percent of the total population.
But women can play a vital role in the national uplift if they are given more powers also with the right to use these powers. Increasing seats and giving 22 percent representation to women in the senate does not mean that women have become empowered. According to UNDP 2009 report, Pakistan ranked 124th out of 156 countries in the Gender Development Index (GDI). This data show that we have a long way to go.