Stakeholder Summary >> Pakistan, Review Documentation, 28th Session November 2017

Implementations

• National Report

  Para 12) Recently a National Gender Policy Framework was launched in 2022. For mobility and empowerment of women, the Government of Pakistan (GoP) approved a project worth PKR. 400 million for provision of motorbikes on subsidized rates to working-women and students initially in ICT and then across Pakistan. A project has also been developed in line with Government’s commitment to advance women empowerment and comply with United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to prevent, address and remedy human rights infringements in business operations. Para 34. At provincial level, the Government of KP has introduced a number of reforms and the current development strategy places an emphasis on improving governance – especially … gender equality and inclusion; … Para 84) All Provincial Education Departments have developed their respective Education Sector Plans for the period of 2019/20–25, drawing special focus on girl child to reduce gender disparity in enrollments. Para 88) The Federal and Provincial governments have also introduced financial incentives and schemes to ensure access to education. In Punjab, the Government initiated the Zever-eTaleem Programme in 2017 to improve enrolment, attendance, and retention of secondary school girls. Under this program a monthly stipend of PKR 1,000 is given to female students of grade 6–10 who comply with 80% attendance rate in public sector middle and secondary schools of 16 low-literacy districts of Punjab. 813,123 girls have received cash benefit from this programme since 2017. Additional incentives include provision of free textbooks up to matric level, no fee at matric level just FTF of only 20 rupees per month, and provision of uniform to needy students. In Sindh stipends totaling up to 1,500 million rupees for over 350,000 Girl Students are being provided to support transition in secondary classes through branchless banking. Girls of public and private institutions in KP are also being given scholarships on equality and merit basis. Para 90) The Government of Sindh has upgraded 54 girls’ schools, and completed construction of 29 schools with further 25 girls’ schools under construction. Other initiatives include Girls’ Right to Education Program by UNESCO being implemented by School Education & Literacy Department Sindh in district Tharparkar; a Girls’ Transition Program in Mithi, Diplo, Kaloi, Nagarparkar & Islamkot; a Girls’ Can project by AZCorp and Wins by UNICEF. Para 93) The Federal Government has enacted a number of laws, policies, programs and other measures to remove gender disparity and empower women. At the policy front, Kafaalat Program was introduced in 2020 to reform the existing BISP by adjusting the transferred amount for inflation. This increased women beneficiaries from 4.6 million to 7 million. Furthermore, the Ehsaas Emergency Cash (EEC) program was also established to deliver one-time emergency cash assistance to the poor and vulnerable households that were most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and 3.7 million (48.9%) women benefitted from this initiative. Para 94) The Government of Punjab published the Punjab Women Development Policy, 2018 which mandates all public sector entities to ensure a minimum of 33% representation of women. Balochistan implemented the Gender Equality and Women Empowerment Policy in 2020 to protect, advance and implement women rights through equity-based socio-economic opportunities including decision-making role in public and private sectors. Mainstreaming gender, gender-responsive governance, pro-women legislation, access to justice, and improved socials services are priority areas under the Policy. Para 96) The Punjab province promulgated the Domestic Workers’ Act 2019 to regulate the working conditions, hours, and holidays and overall employment of domestic workers. The Government of KP also enacted key legislation pertaining to protection against discrimination, protection against harassment, provision of day care, maternity leave, and equal pay for equal work. The KP Home Based Workers (Welfare and protection) Act 2021 was enacted to address the rights, duties and problems of home-based workers. A Women Protection Bill is also under consideration in KP that comprehensively covers all aspects of women related crimes, reporting cognizance, prosecution as well as victim and witness protection. Para 101) The WDD Balochistan in its Annual Development Plan (ADP) of FY2021-22 has provided for several development schemes like Women Business Incubation Centres, Women Bazaars, and Working Women Hostels at Divisional Headquarters. Para 102) Under the Punjab Skill Development Fund (PSDF), skills training was provided to approximately 40,180 rural females. During 2019–20 the Punjab Livestock and Dairy Development Department distributed 78,872 poultry units to rural women across Punjab and provided poultry raising training. Through the Technical Education & Vocational Training Authority, 55,000 female students have been provided skill development courses along with a stipend worth PKR 1,000 per month. Other initiatives by the Government of Punjab include establishment of Mediation and Rehabilitation Wing; conducting awareness campaigns, establishment of an online central storage system for timely service delivery and monitoring mechanism, and provision of legal aid.

  National Report

  Link to Pakistan National Report

  UN Compilation

  Link to Pakistan UN Compilation

  UN Compilation

  Para 6) CEDAW expressed concern that, since the devolution of powers in the area of women’s rights, governance challenges had continued to exist in the integration and coordination of policies for the advancement of women. It also expressed concern about the lack of resources allocated to the provincial commissions and women’s development departments and about the limited resources available to the National Commission on the Status of Women. Para 43) CEDAW expressed concern that an estimated 22.8 million children aged between 5 and 16 were out of school, including 12.6 million girls; that girls with disabilities and girls living in rural areas had limited access to education owing to insufficient investment in education, lack of accessible facilities and parents’ preference to enrol their daughters in girls-only schools; and that the primary-to-secondary retention rate of girls was 52 per cent. Para 56) [CEDAW] reiterated its concern about the low level of participation of women in political and public life. Para 57) [CEDAW] noted the stark gender pay gap, the very low labour force participation rate for women, the high concentration of women in the informal economy, the very low level of women in senior and middle management positions and the very low percentage of women entrepreneurs.