EDITORIAL: On the subject of gender-related issues Pakistan continues to be counted among the worst performers. In the ‘Global Gender Gap Report 2023’ put out by the World Economic Forum (WEF) it gets ranked at 142nd place out of 146 countries. Nevertheless, there is some comfort to be had in that the progression indicators are not at a standstill.
Despite relatively high disparities, parity in literacy rate and enrolment in secondary and tertiary education are gradually advancing, leading to 82.5 percent parity on the educational attainment index. The report also notes broad progress across all indicators regarding economic participation and opportunities, particularly in the share of women technical workers and the achievement of parity in wage equality for similar work.
Besides, Pakistan secured parity in sex ratio at birth, boosting parity by 1.7 percentage points since last year. The widest gap, according to the WEF report, is on political empowerment, noting that it has had a female head of state for 4.7 years in the last 50 years.
As for the gender gap in political empowerment, it should not be difficult to narrow if not fill it. At present, 33 percent seats in the assemblies are reserved for women, mostly occupied by relatives or friends of party leaders rather than real activists.
This can change for the better if for a start political parties are required by law to set aside at least the same percentage for women to contest direct elections from their platforms. There is no excuse not to do that since the people tend to vote on party basis, electing female candidates of mainstream parties even in rural constituencies as exemplified at present by Federal Minister for Benazir Income Support Programme, Shazia Marri; and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Hina Rabbani Khar.
No less significant, in the last national election PTI’s Dr Yasmin Rashid gave the PML-N supremo and three-time prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif a run for his money in his traditional Lahore constituency. More worrying are the gender gaps in education and economic activity. Holding women back is the age-old patriarchal system in which men make all life-changing decisions about their female relatives, including education, professional work, and when and whom to marry.
It is worth noting that although no country gets a perfect score in WEF’s ratings among the top nine counties that have closed at least 80 percent of the gender gap are two developing countries, Nicaragua in Latin America and Namibia in Sub-Saharan Africa.
In those societies, too, women had faced gender discrimination in various forms, but their governments took steps to ensure women had equal rights to education, healthcare, and work, thereby empowering them to play their due role in all fields of national endeavour.
It is about time Pakistan also made a concerted effort to improve gender parity. This is important not only to allow women and girls realise their full potential but also the benefits they can bring to overall economic development and prosperity. It should be worthy ambition for all interested in socio-economic progress of the country.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023