ISLAMABAD:
Speakers at a convention on Monday urged for provision of equal opportunities to women workers and to foster work environments conducive to gender equality.
The two-day convention was organised by the International Labour Organization (ILO) to celebrate the achievements of working women. The convention showcased achievements and learning from “One UN” project working towards gender equality in Pakistan and the Canadian government funded project “Promoting Gender Equality for Decent Employment”.
Over 200 government representatives, employers, workers, service providers, civil society representatives, academia, donors, UN agencies and media attended the convention. Sessions with employers, employees and trainees of ILO projects revealed how each group had benefitted from gender-equal policies in the workplace; through increased productivity, efficiency and job satisfaction.
Participants reassured ILO’s position that gender equality in the world of work is not only a matter of human rights and justice for workers, but that it also makes good business sense for employers. The convention included live demonstrations and experience sharing of women entrepreneurs and factory workers from across the country that the audience highly appreciated.
Speaking at the inaugural session, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Human Rights, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, said that the present government treats gender as a human rights issue and ensures that affirmative action is taken to provide social justice to men and women. He said the government is striving towards “competitiveness, productivity, growth of the economy, the creation of decent jobs and the employability for all”. He also urged employers to provide “decent environment and equal opportunities” for both the gender in public and private sector organisations.
Highlighting the stance of ILO on “Gender Equality in the World of Work”, ILO Country Director Francesco d’ Ovidio said that as a result of the current projects,” home-based piece-rate women workers have found formal sector waged employment and are now earning three times more than they were before, and in conditions of decent work”.
Over 150 women and men have also found above minimum wage employment in the textiles and hospitality sectors, which are not only in the conventional entry-level occupations women usually occupy, he said. d’ Ovidio said a group of women were trained to set up their own food businesses in Gwadar, and they reported an increase of Rs1,000 per day per person during Ramzan. Similarly a group was trained in solar appliances assembly and maintenance and they are now contributing towards the maintenance of solar electrification in their villages, he added.
UN Women Country Director Alice Harding Shackelford said, “Potentials of men and women can only be optimally utilised if their abilities, knowledge and skills are developed; and that is only possible if special support mechanisms, policies and programmes are adopted that address the realities and needs of these men and women.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 11th, 2011.
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