IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, will work with the business advocacy group The Pakistan Business Council (PBC) to promote better career opportunities for working parents and implement family-friendly practices, such as childcare benefits.
A total of 14 companies agreed to support parents in finding a greater balance between work and family responsibilities and to implement family-friendly policies such as paternity leave, breastfeeding support, and employer-supported childcare under the initiative, Tackling Childcare Pakistan: Creating Family-Friendly Workplaces.
The firms participating in the initiative consist of denim-manufacturer Artistic Milliners and Soorty, food manufacturer English Biscuit Manufacturers and National Foods Limited, fertilizers, foods, chemicals, energy and petrochemicals manufacturer Engro Group and Dawood Hercules, banking and financial institutions HBL, JS Bank and Standard Chartered Bank, hosiery manufacturer Interloop Limited, technology manufacturer Siemens, telecommunications provider PTCL and Telenor Pakistan and hotel chain Serena Hotels.
Under the initiative, IFC, The Pakistan Business Council, and other partners, including care providers CatCo Kids and Ubuntu Care, National Commission on the Status of Women, Unicef Pakistan, and UN Women Pakistan will provide advice on childcare needs assessments and family-friendly solutions and conduct a series of events to expand learning and share knowledge on family-friendly practices. Participating companies will have a chance to attend workshops on topics such as supporting the role of men in caregiving and learn from each other. The peer-learning collaboration is the first of its kind on family-friendly workplaces in Pakistan.
According to Ehsan Malik, CEO, The Pakistan Business Council, "To realize business and economic gains, we must treat childcare and family-friendly policies as a government and corporate priority."
"Family-friendly policies such as childcare can enable mothers and fathers to fulfil their work-life responsibilities and participate equally in the workforce," said Shabana Khawar, Senior Country Officer, IFC. "This can in turn enable companies and the Pakistani economy to thrive."
Tackling Childcare Pakistan is part of IFC's broader effort to drive business and economic development and promote gender inclusion in Pakistan.-PR.