'Women risk waiting a lifetime for equality'

The latest World Economic Forum data shows that a girl born today will have to wait 123 years – way beyond her expected lifespan – to see gender equality achieved globally.

"We do not have to accept a 123-year wait or longer for equality," said Sightsavers' director for Pakistan and the Middle East Munazza Gillani. "Disability-inclusive investments in women's livelihoods can compress over a century of waiting into transformative change right away. Investing in women, especially those with disabilities, is an undervalued investment opportunity which even the World Bank acknowledges could add up to US$21 trillion to the global GDP."

In Pakistan, Fizza Hussain, the country's first visually impaired chef and co-founder of Khaas Foodz Kitchen, is one of many examples of what disability-inclusive investment can achieve. Losing her sight at the age of 18, she refused to accept the stigma society would try to place on her and has since helped develop Pakistan's first accessible culinary training model for visually impaired individuals.

Through her leadership, more than 1000 trainees have received professional culinary and life skills training.