Gender inequality remains a significant challenge in Pakistan, as highlighted by its ranking of 145th on the 2024 Global Gender Gap Index. With an overall gender parity score of only 57%, the country faces considerable gaps across various areas, including Economic Participation, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment.
We need to understand what we can do better, and we need to reach some consensus on that, or at least now is the right time to spread awareness on that. So, the most pressing issue is economic disparity, with women accessing only 36% of the opportunities available to men. This is further reflected in the underrepresentation of women in senior leadership roles, where female legislators, senior officials, and managers make up less than 6% of these positions.
This is one aspect that we will see when we go deeper into our societies. We are getting class-based differences and inequality among women as well. For instance, income inequality is one of the widest globally, with a gap of 75.1 percentage points between men’s and women’s estimated earnings. Despite some progress in closing the labor-force participation gap, women’s involvement remains alarmingly low at 30.4%, ranking Pakistan 140th worldwide.
What measures could be taken to significantly enhance women’s participation in the workforce, from the grassroots level towards leadership roles in Pakistan?
While there have been improvements in educational attainment in Pakistan, challenges persist that hinder gender parity. What statistics we have, they said, “Since 2006, enrollment rates in primary, secondary, and tertiary education have steadily increased, with rates of 87.6%, 84.3%, and 92.6%, respectively. The alarming point for the entire Nation is that despite this progress, Pakistan ranks 139th in the Educational Attainment subindex, mainly due to a gender gap in literacy. The female literacy rate is only 67.1%, well below the global average. This gap results from systemic barriers to educational access and quality, particularly in rural areas.
When it comes to systemic barriers, we are very clear that lack of awareness, social tabus, social injustice, and conservative mindset are key hurdles in this gender gap. To address these challenges, targeted interventions are needed, such as greater investment in girls’ education, improvements to infrastructure, and community awareness campaigns to shift societal attitudes toward girls’ schooling.
Women’s political representation in Pakistan also remains a critical issue, as reflected in the country’s low score in the Political Empowerment subindex. Although Pakistan has had a female prime minister in the past, the political scene remains predominantly male-dominated. To rectify this imbalance, Pakistan could implement gender quotas, offer leadership training for women, and cultivate a more inclusive political environment that encourages women’s participation at all levels of government. Enhancing women’s political representation is essential for ensuring that their needs and perspectives are adequately incorporated into policy decisions, ultimately leading to more equitable social and economic outcomes.
In countries like Pakistan, Women and girls are disproportionately affected by climate change, with 80% of those displaced being women. They face heightened risks of violence, disease, malnutrition, and complications related to maternal and reproductive health. The most recent example, the 2022 floods in Pakistan, caused widespread damage, impacting nearly 27,000 schools and 10% of healthcare facilities, severely disrupting access to education and healthcare. As a result, 70% of adolescent girls discontinued their schooling, and 77% were unable to access reproductive health services.
This big loss globally impacts the country’s position, so from this aspect, the question goes to the administration to address, at least to provide its citizens with enough environment where they can survive first and then proceed to education and social contribution.
