Pakistan has seen a growing presence of women both in the civil services, and the armed forces during the past decade, government statistics and officials say.
According to the statistics, the number of women in the federal and the provincial bureaucracy has increased by 20% during the past decade, with scores of female officers holding important positions.
As borne out by statistics provided the Establishment Division, out of total 571,619 federal government employees, around 27,922 are females, making up nearly 5 % of the total strength, said. The ratio was well below 4% a decade ago.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency on the occasion of the International Women's Day, Syed Abu Ahmad Akif, a former Cabinet Secretary observed that not only in the health and education - traditionally women's favorite fields in terms of employment, there is an increasing trend of female officers joining the civil service.
"Although change in traditional societies is slow, fortunately, we have seen an increasing trend of female officers joining the civil services," Akif, who served as the country's top bureaucrat, opined. At the same time, he added, there is an increasing acceptance of females in almost every role - including those that were male preserves, like the deputy commissioner or the district police chief.
"When I had joined the civil service ( in 1983), the general perception was that Pakistanis would not accept a female field officer like an Assistant Commissioner or a deputy commissioner - or that such an officer would not be successful. But, nowadays, this taboo no long exists," he went on to say. It was only in 1998 when the first female deputy commissioner was posted in Thatta district of Sindh.
The federal government has reserved 10% quota for employment of women to all posts across the board in Federal Government services including Central Superior Service or CSS, to be filled by direct recruitment, in addition to their participation in the open merit.
The Defense Division, the figures show, is the largest administrative unit in terms of female employees with share of 36.86% out of total female employees. The second largest unit is the Federal Education & Professional Training Division with 19.74% of the total female employees.
National Health Services Regulations & Coordination, Interior and Communications Divisions remain third, fourth and fifth with share of 8.32%, 6.56% and 4.79% respectively out of the total female employees.
In terms of the share, northeastern Punjab, the country's most populous province, has 57% of the total female employees, followed by southern Sindh province, 22,%, northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 8.92% and southwestern Balochistan 3.19% respectively. While, the capital Islamabad, Pakistan-administered Kashmir, northern Gilgit Baltistan regionand erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) have share of 5.34%, 96%, 0.70% and 0.45% respectively.
Despite a much decreasing tendency was observed in over all working strength of employees of autonomous bodies, and corporations due to coronavirus pandemic, the Establishment Division report said, the working strength of female employees remained almost same as compared to last year.
"This shows serious efforts of Government to provide better employment opportunities to the females and implementation of 10% women quota in letter and spirit," it maintained.
More and more women joining armed forces
Apart from the civil service, the number of women joining the three armed forces, police, airport security force, and rangers have also increased “significantly” in recent years.In a historic first, Nigar Johar became the first woman officer to be promoted to the rank of the three-star general in 2020.
She is currently heading the covet Medical Corps of Pakistan Army, commonly known as the Surgeon General of Pakistan Army. In addition to the medical corps, a good number of women are graduating even as fighter pilots, and paratroopers- the two prestigious jobs in the powerful military and the air force.
The army has also increased the number of women officers and staff taking part in international peace missions to fulfil the UN quota of 15% female representation in peace missions since 2019, an army official confirmed.In 2020, a 15-member "female engagement team" deployed in Democratic Republic of the Congo received major recognition for being the first all-female group from Pakistan to serve in a UN peacekeeping mission.
“Despite social and economical hurdles, Pakistani women have broken into the fields, which otherwise used to be considered for men only, in recent decades, “ Faleeha Kazmi, head of Persian Department of the University of Lahore for Women, observed. “Pakistani women have got themselves recognized through a relentless struggle and commitment.
They are seen everywhere, from diplomacy to armed forces, and from judiciary to education, “ Kazmi told Anadolu Agency.
Holding covet posts
Many women officers are currently holding the executive posts of district judges, deputy inspector general of police, deputy commissioners, assistant commissioners, and city police officer across the country, mainly in Punjab.
In January, Justice Ayesha Malik took the oath as the country’s first ever Supreme Court judge.
Several women are representing Pakistan as ambassadors, consuls, and attachés in the important capitals of the world.
Saima Saleem, the first visually impaired Pakistani diplomat is currently Second Secretary on Human Rights for Pakistan's Permanent Mission to UN in Geneva.
Helena Iqbal Saeed, and Sheeba Shah also made history to become the first ever first police officers to be promoted as the additional inspector general and the deputy inspector general of police in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
Around 100 female commandos are working in the elite police force of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders neighboring Afghanistan, and once the hotbed of militancy.
Sky is the limit
Days before the Women’s Day, the government appointed Nasira Khatoon as the first ever female vice-chancellor of the University of Karachi, the country’s largest state-run university.
Tasneem Zehra Husain, Pakistan's first woman scientist to earn her PhD in the cutting-edge world of string theory, says “every field open to the girls.”
Husain, a doctoral alumna of Sweden’s Stockholm University, where she studied theoretical physics and won a scholarship to further study the field of high-energy physics, stressed that there is no limit to what women can accomplish in the field of science.
"If students, especially girls, get proper guidance and counseling, the sky is the limit for them and they can do wonders. It's high time that we start telling our girls that every field is open for them,” she told Anadolu Agency.
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