Uzair bin Farid

The road to economic prosperity leads through the financial inclusion of women into the mainstream productive sectors. These remarks were expressed by women speakers at the annual Women March organised by the Women Action Forum (WAF) in collaboration with Women Democratic Front (WDF) and Hum Auratein (women’s rights organisations), outside the National Press Club in Islamabad. The event was attended by a large number of women, men, students, lawyers, members of academia, media persons and politicians.

The speakers at the event collectively put forward the demands of alleviating the cumbersome socio-economic conditions of women in Pakistan. The speakers said that Pakistan has come a long way in helping women to improve their economic and financial conditions. They laid stress on further improving the implementation of policies that have already been devised to include women in industry, entrepreneurship, business, media, politics, academia, sports, science, and the broader society.

The speakers also stressed the need to meet the global standards of women’s empowerment and financial inclusion. They said that there are a lot of economic and financial opportunities that women can cash upon to improve the conditions of their selves and their households.

The speakers said that it is not just a fight for women. Women need to be helped by men and the state at all levels so that they could prosper and contribute to the economic development of the country.Speaking to WealthPK, participants of the event said that they see the light at the end of the tunnel. They said that participation of civil society was essential to help improve a lot of women.

Pakistan’s population is composed of more than 50% of women. If women are educated, protected and provided with equal opportunities, they can participate in all walks of life as equals to men. This would improve the labour shortage in the country and create a competitive market where men and women will compete for the same jobs. This will create incentives for both skilled and unskilled workers to innovate and upgrade their working potential.

This phenomenon will create a highly competitive skilled pool of workers that will contribute towards the economic growth of the country. If women are excluded from that skilled pool, it will reduce its strength to less than half, which means that 50% of working labour will not be able to contribute towards the development of the country.Therefore, it is extremely essential to include women in the socio-economic development paradigm so that the burden of work, earning, innovation, and productive labour can be shared equally by both men and women.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk