Technological empowerment: ‘When women work, economies win’

Experts highlight challenges and opportunities for female employment

KARACHI: Along with economic benefits, the technology and internet boom has empowered women by facilitating remote jobs and increasing overall female employment, experts said on Tuesday.

“Internet is more accommodating for women who cannot go to workplaces due to different restrictions,” Professor Shahida Wizarat, Head of Economics Department at the Institute of Business Management (IoBM), said while speaking at a women empowerment event titled ‘Gender and Trade Conference: Closing the Gender Gap - A Tool for Economic and Trade Development in Pakistan’.

The two-day event was arranged by the Pakistan Women Entrepreneurs Network for Trade (Pakistan WE-NET) and the World Bank Group.

“Female labour force participation in Pakistan is 11% in urban areas and 33% in rural areas,” World Bank Group Senior Economist Yoon Cho stated during her presentation.

“Moreover, 17% males and 60% females in rural areas are employed without pay while the figures in urban areas are 7% males and 14% females.”

Despite progress in female education, large variations remain across the provinces which hinder female participation in the economy, she added.

Cho said 40.2% of unmarried women and 27.73% of married women in the prime age bracket of 25 to 34 years were part of the workforce.

Transport, household responsibilities and childcare are major bottlenecks in developing countries which hinder female participation in the workforce.

“Women are an important source of human capital and should receive skills training, counseling and mentoring for easing their entry into modern industries,” Cho said, adding access to finance, professional networks and knowledge-sharing also needed to be increased.

“Economic policies, including trade policies, are powerful instruments for translating gender equality aspirations into reality,” World Bank Group Finance and Competitiveness Director Zoubaida Allaoua stated.

Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan Margaret Adamson said gender equality was essential for successful economic and social development globally.

Dorothy Tembo, Deputy Executive Director of Geneva-based International Trade Centre, elaborated on the joint mandate devised by the World Trade Organization and the United Nations to strengthen and improve the performance of trade and investment support institutions for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Dr Gulden Turktan, founding chair of W20 and member of WBG Gender Advisory Council, while stressing the importance of women for long-term sustainability and development of a country’s economy, said “when women work, economies win.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21^st, 2018.

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