{"id":4186,"date":"2020-03-27T10:39:06","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T10:39:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apexconsulting.biz\/blog\/?p=4186"},"modified":"2022-09-05T17:40:32","modified_gmt":"2022-09-05T17:40:32","slug":"women-economic-social-well-being-in-punjab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apexconsulting.biz\/blog\/women-economic-social-well-being-in-punjab\/","title":{"rendered":"WOMEN ECONOMIC SOCIAL WELL BEING IN PUNJAB"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

GENDER EQUALITY & GROWTH STRATEGY OF PUNJAB<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gender equality and empowerment of women are cross-cutting goals in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015. The SDGs goals 5 and 8 specifically target the achievement of gender equality and the promotion of inclusive and sustainable growth. Keeping in view the importance of women empowerment for socio-economic growth<\/a>, the Government of Punjab introduced Women\u2019s Empowerment Package 2012, 2014 and 2016 to ensure equal opportunities for growth and women empowerment in the province. The Government of Punjab further developed a strategic framework in the shape of Punjab Growth Strategy 2023, which endorses women-centric sub-objectives that underline the Punjab Government\u2019s goal of women empowerment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IMPORTANCE OF WOMEN\u2019s SOCIAL WELL BEING<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The importance of gender equality and women\u2019s empowerment for sustainable development is understood and acknowledged globally, as evidenced by its inclusion included in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While reducing gender disparities is implicit in the SDGs, SDG 5 and 8 have specific targets to achieve gender equality by providing women and girls with equal access to education, decent work, health care and freedom in economic and political decision-making processes which would help economies to achieve sustainable and inclusive development. The Government of Pakistan is committed to effective monitoring & evaluation<\/em><\/strong> <\/a>of gender equality, and both the Federal and provincial governments have endeavored to mainstream gender and undertake specific women-focused interventions via national and regional policies. Accordingly, women empowerment and gender equality are the foremost pillars of Pakistan vision 2025 which stimulated the Government of Punjab to develop the Punjab Growth Strategy which envisages inter alia, enhancement of human capital of both men and women. It also focuses on the private sector, export-led growth, and value-added production in agriculture, textiles, and livestock. While women are not specifically noted, the three target sectors of growth employ a substantial number of women. To achieve the growth rate target, full participation of women in the industrial and agricultural sector is imperative, and to achieve equal participation of women in productive decent employment, the need for an overarching enabling environment of gender equality must be considered. The Government of Punjab also introduced the Women\u2019s Empowerment Packages 2012, 2014, and 2016[2]<\/sup><\/a>. These packages aimed to support women in all spheres of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However progress in this facet is being hampered by discriminatory social norms, resource constraints and policy evaporation that does not translate into sustained change.  Pakistan ranks in the bottom ten countries on economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, and health and survival in the Gender Gap Index 2018, ranked 148 out of 149 countries.[3]<\/a> In political participation, however, due to the reserved seats for women, Pakistan ranks at 97, testifying to the importance of affirmative action in the short to medium term to level the playing field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The population of Pakistan is 207 million in 2017,[4]<\/a>\nthe sixth most populous country in the world. Punjab is the most populous\nprovince with 53% of the country\u2019s entire population residing in the province.\nWomen comprise 49% of Punjab\u2019s population.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE NEED TO\nCONDUCT WOMEN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL WELLBEING SURVEY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To achieve\nPunjab\u2019s desired development goals for women, it was essential to identify\nfactors that hinder women\u2019s access to economic opportunities, leading to gender\ninequality. The Punjab Gender Parity Report 2016 (PGPR) had already identified\ndisparities between men and women in economic participation and opportunities\n(employment, ownership of assets, labor force participation, etc.) as well as\nin sectors that potentially influence women\u2019s access and participation in the\neconomy. The said report has served to guide policy and service level\ninterventions for the promotion of women\u2019s economic participation in Punjab.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this context, Punjab Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) in line with its monitoring & evaluation objectives, one of which was \u201cto capture comprehensive statistics of women\u2019s current social and economic participation in Punjab<\/a>\u201d,<\/em><\/strong> undertook the initiative for a comprehensive survey to collect data on women in Punjab. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey was designed and implemented by PCSW in collaboration with the Bureau of Statistics (BoS), Punjab with support of the United Nations Fund for Population (UNFPA)<\/a> and the Department of International Development (DFID)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was a complex and one of kind survey<\/a> which has been conducted for the first time ever in Punjab and Pakistan. APEX Consulting<\/a> being a monitoring & evaluation specialist<\/a> firm was a proud outsourced facilitator for this particular assignment. Moreover, this really was an exceptional achievement with the aid of staff involved who displayed an extraordinary sense of responsibility. The district functionaries, administrative departments and law enforcement agencies also deserve applause for their vigilance and their role in ensuring the safety of survey field teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OBJECTIVES\nACHIEVED BY THE WOMEN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL WELLBEING SURVEY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The WESW Survey was\ndesigned in such a way that it collected statistically sound, nationally and\ninternationally comparable estimates of key indicators that can be used to\nassess:<\/p>\n\n\n\n