ISLAMABAD: Health experts have acknowledged that Pakistan has made significant progress in meeting gender equity and women empowerment goals amid persisting major structural, legal, and cultural barriers.
Speaking at seminar titled, “Rights, Equality, Empowerment Through Beijing+30 in Pakistan: Reflections, Challenges and Future Directions” organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), in connection with International Women’s Day, they stressed the need for accelerated efforts in gender-responsive budgeting, stronger law enforcement to achieve Beijing+30, SDG-5 commitments.
Dr Fareeha Armughan, a SDPI research fellow, pointed out that only five per cent of women in Pakistan hold leadership roles and women’s solidarity networks are missing, limiting their collective bargaining power.
She emphasised the urgency of shifting from gender-exploitative to comprehensive gender-transformative model and called for legislative measures to address these exploitative practices.
Speaking on the occasion, deputy executive director of SDPI, emphasised that Pakistan has been an active participant in the Beijing+30 forum, striving to uphold women’s rights and drive global commitments to gender equality. He added that to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration, three reports were launched, all of which concluded that the world had failed to meet its targets and remains far from achieving SDG-5 (Gender Equality).
However, UN Women, UNICEF, and UNITAD contributed to these reports, stressing that while women’s participation in various sectors has increased, their overall status remains unsatisfactory.
SDPI Gender and Women’s Expert Sadia Satti, in her technical keynote, analysed progress on the key targets of SDG-5, which include ending discrimination, eliminating gender-based violence, and abolishing harmful practices.
She shared alarming statistics claiming that nearly 19 million children in Pakistan fall prey to early child marriage. Women under 10 years old mostly remain unpaid for their work. Women’s representation in politics stands at 20.5 per cent of parliamentary seats and female labour force participation fluctuates between 21-26 per cent, the lowest in South Asia with a 38 per cent gender gap in mobile phone ownership and internet usage.
Satti mentioned that Commission on Status of Women (CSW) Beijing+30 review will be conducted at national and international levels. While Pakistan has enacted several gender-focused legislations from 2020-23, implementation gaps persist, she added. She also pointed out that during the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2022 floods, women and children were 14 times more likely to die than men, and 69 per cent of girls dropped out of school in flood-affected areas.
Barira Hanif, Member of the Planning Ministry and Gender Expert, shed light on Uraan Pakistan, a newly-launched initiative aimed at promoting equity and gender empowerment alongside economic development.
She highlighted that efforts are being made to mainstream gender in planning and development, particularly at the local community level. The Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) projects are also being reviewed with a gender-inclusive focus, she said, adding, the Planning Ministry, in collaboration with UN Women, has launched a Gender Action Plan that will be rolled out across federal ministries, whereas academia is also being engaged to evaluate and monitor gender-related indexes, ensuring a data-driven approach to policymaking.
Saman Ahsan from UN Women reflected on the Beijing Declaration, recalling that Pakistan was represented by a female prime minister when it was passed. Despite progress in legislative reforms and increased women’s participation in politics, significant gaps remain in implementation and enforcement.
Legal expert Riffat Inam Butt, former secretary of Law and Justice, stressed that while 80 per cent of women’s issues could be addressed through existing legal frameworks, weak enforcement limits their effectiveness. She underscored the importance of gender-disaggregated data to develop inclusive policies. She also pointed out that only eight per cent of the total workforce in the federal government comprises women, and media representation of women in leadership roles remains low.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025