Pakistan to adopt gender roadmap to achieve equality

ISLAMABAD: The present government is taking the agenda of gender development and equality as a national priority, a senior  official said on Saturday.

Chairing a high-level meeting, Federal Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said the final gender roadmap is a key product emerging from months’ long nationwide iterative consultations engaging the National Youth Council, academicians, subject experts, national task forces, youth voices from across the globe, government officials and development partners.

The meeting discussed several high impact interventions to mainstream gender across all key priorities.

The packages of high impact strategic interventions were proposed keeping in view the confronting challenges to inform mindful investment in closing the gender gap and creating equitable opportunities for women and girls.

The minister underscored the importance of gender-transformative workplaces. He desired that a policy framework be developed based on the deliberations and rapid research, identifying the current barriers faced by the women workers in the public and private sector organisations.

The key recommendations outlined in the framework should not only guide development of a public sector programme but must also be supported by necessary legal instruments to make the working environment conducive and progressive for women.

The minister expressed concerns over the rising proportion of out-of-school children; following the pandemic globally, as well as in Pakistan, sharing the government’s intent in tackling this challenge as a national priority.

The minister highlighted the need to exploit the e-school experiences from the pandemic and using the Covid-19 as an opportunity to introduce innovative e-solutions, e-schools and accelerated learning programmes for reaching out-of-school children.

The members of the social sector and devolution presented the draft gender roadmap, which proposed gender integration across all national policies, programmes, offices and key management processes.

The roadmap is designed to close the gender gap in education and employment, simultaneously empowering the young women to yield a substantive Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) dividend that can, in turn, catalyse the economic growth of Pakistan.

Reviewing the proposed innovative employment generating and skill-building strategies, the minister advised that the same be reviewed in tandem with the existing interventions under the Kamyab Jawan Programme to consolidate efforts and resources under one umbrella for an optimum impact.

The importance of dedicated transport facilities for young girls was also highlighted for both accessing educational and employment opportunities.

Asad Umar desired a comprehensive proposal to be presented, in this regard, in the coming week.

He emphasised the national priority accorded to gender empowerment and the urgency to respond to the current situation.

Umar asked for the proposed two-year roadmap to be presented before the sectoral experts, industry leaders, and policy think-tanks, and sought their inputs, while finalising the same.