The government must take positive steps to eliminate inequality
TURBAT: It really hurts me to mention that Pakistan has been ranked the second-worst country in the world for gender inequality. Pakistan is also the worst performing state in South Asia and has been for the last couple of years.
However, it is one of the fundamental rights of women in a society to receive equality. Women play a significant role in many areas of development. Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah once stated that a nation can never be developed if women are not working side by side with men. Moreover, in December 1979, when many nations at the United Nations General Assembly accepted the convention on the eradication of all evil customs against women in society, Pakistan also promised to provide gender equality. However, nothing has been practically done to stem Pakistan’s ranking of gender inequality.
A majority of women cannot move beyond the status that patriarchy assigns to them in Pakistan, thereby remaining excluded from developing the necessary skills to be a part of the workforce. Employment is also a very important factor to be considered in gender discrimination. According to one estimate, 98 per cent of top managers in banks and other financial institutions and industrial units are male. This shows that women are not treated as equal candidates for top management positions. The government must take positive steps to eliminate inequality.
Noor Bakhsh
Published in The Express Tribune, February 24th, 2017.
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