Gender equality: ‘Underprivileged women’ designers take the stage

ISLAMABAD: Fashion models sashayed down the ramp wearing impressive and skillfully designed attires on Monday evening in the capital to rapturous applause.

However, what was different about this display of high fashion was that none of the designers of these glittering clothes were your typical high-street designers who headline shows, rather these clothes had been made by craftswomen.

Till a few years ago, these noveau designers had no knowledge of the métier till a couple of years ago. But today, they are using their newly acquired skills to make an impression in the competitive field of fashion.

These women had been trained under the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO’s) national project, “Promoting Gender Equality for Decent Employment (GE4DE)”. The programme had started with the support of Canadian government six years ago in 2010 in collaboration with Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development (MOPHRD), Employer Federation of Pakistan (EFP) and Pakistan Workers’ Federation (PWF).

ILO Country Director Ingrid Christensen said that ILO wants to end all types of discriminations, particularly gender inequality in the local job market.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2^nd, 2016.