PM launches endowment fund for women

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday, reaffirming his commitment to gender equality, said women’s empowerment could only be achieved by providing them an equal access to education, skill development and employment opportunities.

“It’s our mission and an unwavering commitment to ensure emancipation of the country’s female population,” he said in his address at an event of International Women’s Day, marked globally on 8th March to celebrate the achievements of women and to make a call for their rights.

Prominent women from diverse fields, including cabinet members, legislators, entrepreneurs and activists joined the event at the Prime Minister’s House, which was organized by Ministry of Human Rights and the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) in collaboration with United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The prime minister, on the occasion, launched the capital’s first-ever Gender Parity Report prepared by NCSW and UNFPA, which identifies challenges and recommends solutions in key areas such as education, health, governance, political representation and justice.

PM Sharif said his government would collaborate with provinces for a collective action to promote women’s integration in programmes contributing to national economy.

He announced to establish a Working Women’s Endowment Fund in a bid to support working women and help them compete with the contemporary challenges.

He termed the PM’s Women Empowerment Package a “revolutionary step in eliminating discrimination against women” in areas of employment and for making special provisions to provide them facilities at par with men.

“Our fifty percent women population can be turned into a productive workforce if given a level-playing field,” he said.

To facilitate working women, he highlighted that daycare centres were set up across public and private departments in Islamabad, with a plan to further expand the scope of facilities.

The prime minister regretted that a large number of highly-qualified women in the country quit professional careers in their struggle to balance work and families, resulting in a huge loss of skilled human resource.

“My message to the educated [women] segment is to come forward and join hospitals, banks and other professions of their expertise in order to positively contribute towards national economy,” he said.

PM Sharif paid tribute to the country’s women champions, who played a prominent role in shaping the landscape of female empowerment.

In this regard, he particularly named the leading women of Pakistan Movement Fatima Jinnah and Begum Raa’na Liaquat Ali Khan, Benazir Bhutto as the first woman prime minister of Pakistan and the Muslim world, Begum Nusrat Bhutto and Begum Kulsum Nawaz as icons of resistance against dictatorship, social workers Bilquis Edhi and Dr Ruth Pfau, lawyer Asma Jahangir, country’s youngest IT expert Arfa Karim, former National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza, first woman Chief Minister of Punjab Maryam Nawaz, first woman chief justice of Lahore High Court Justice Aalia Neelum and first female judge of Supreme Court Justice Ayesha Malik.

“These ‘daughters of the nation’ are a remarkable symbol of women empowerment who made their mark in their respective fields,” he said.

Shehbaz Sharif recalled the steps taken for women’s emancipation during the earlier tenures of his party in power including the establishment of Punjab’s first anti-violence centres for women, enhanced women quota in boards of government departments, increased stipend for girl students, and ending child labour at brick-kilns by enrolling 90,000 such children to schools.

Minister for Law, Justice and Human Right Azam Nazeer Tarar said in line with PM Shehbaz Sharif’s directive, the ministries and departments had been tasked last year to ensure women-inclusive policies. The initiative, he said, successfully led to higher proportion of women’s representation in the departmental boards.

He pointed out that Pakistan was ranked 145th out of 146 countries on the Global Gender Gap Index, next to Afghanistan, which “did not reflect a true picture and was contrary to ground reality”. He called upon the relevant organizations to revisit the ranking and expressed the government’s readiness to share the required data.

UN’s Resident Coordinator Mohamed Yahya said the UN was committed in supporting Pakistan to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 related to gender action plan.

He said gender equality needed to be recognized not as a woman specific matter, but a human issue. The launch of Islamabad’s Gender Parity Report is significant in identifying the challenges that further need attention, he added.

Chairperson Special Committee on Gender Mainstreaming Dr Nafisa Shah said women’s representation across various governmental bodies and departments remained below the targeted 33 percent benchmark. She termed their representation was essential for effective governance and smooth policy-making.

Chairperson NCSW Umme-e-Laila spoke about Pakistan’s gender parity situation, saying the women were breaking barriers in multiple sectors. As steps of empowerment, she highlighted the launch of Pink Buses for women commuters exclusively and the ‘Women on Wheels’ project which provided skillset to women for their easy and independent mobility.

Chairman Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Akif Saeed said under PM’s Women Empowerment Package, the SECP was tasked to nominate the private companies who had implemented family-friendly policies at their workplace. He said the companies would serve as role models in promotion of a safe working environment.

The prime minister gave away the Family Friendly Awards to 10 best private companies, including Alpha Beta Core Solutions, Arfa Karim Technology Incubator, Aviation MRO, Blink Capital, Funverks Global, Gift Educational, Kistpay, Laiba Enterprises, Ladies Fund Energy, and Li & Fung Pakistan.

The awards were based on an online survey and a scoring matrix prepared by SECP in collaboration with UN Women and Pakistan Business Council. Over 230 companies participated in the survey launched in 2024, out of which 10 were short-listed through a transparent process.

SMEDA

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has announced a major initiative to integrate women associated with cottage industries and small businesses into the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector.

The announcement was made on International Women’s Day during a review meeting on ongoing reforms under the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (SMEDA), held on Saturday.

Speaking at the meeting, the Prime Minister emphasized the need for women’s economic empowerment and directed authorities to provide essential capital and facilities on a priority basis to businesswomen in the cottage industry. He also instructed measures to offer low-cost loans to women under the Youth Loan Scheme, enabling them to expand their businesses. Stressing the importance of supporting educated and skilled women, especially in rural and remote areas, he urged for initiatives that help them achieve financial independence through entrepreneurship.

The Prime Minister ordered the establishment of facilitation centers and training institutes to support women engaged in small-scale businesses and ensure their easy access to these resources. To strengthen this initiative, he announced the formation of a special committee tasked with developing a comprehensive plan for empowering women through business opportunities. The committee will soon present its recommendations to the Prime Minister.

Addressing the attendees, Shehbaz Sharif highlighted that almost half of Pakistan’s population consists of women, and the government is committed to making them economically stable through priority-based initiatives. He assured that all necessary resources and training would be provided to ensure dignified employment and business opportunities for women. He directed authorities to guarantee women’s access to facilitation centers and training programs and reaffirmed that low-cost loans would be made available to female entrepreneurs under the Youth Loan Scheme.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister was briefed on SMEDA’s initiatives for the development of micro, small, and medium enterprises. Federal Ministers Dr. Musadik Malik, Ahsan Iqbal, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Special Assistant Haroon Akhtar, Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Youth Program Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan, and other senior officials were also present.