Pakistan women labour force participation is the lowest in the world, says report

Islamabad, Jan.29 : Pakistan is almost at the lowest in the world ranking in the labour force participation of women and opportunity for women.

In the Global Gender Gap Report of the World Economic Forum, Pakistan occupied the 126th position among 128 countries.

Pakistan's Minister for Women's Development, Social Welfare and Special Education, Barrister Shahida Jamil was informed here on Monday by the chief executive officer of the of Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF), Arthur Bayhan.

He provided to the minister details about the latest indicators on Economic Participation and Opportunity for Women.

On the Labour Force Participation of Women, he said Pakistan ranked 121st among 128 countries.

According to the Dawn, Bayhan said that both the women and labour force indicators were very weak although Pakistan was doing well on the Political Empowerment of Women, where it ranked at 43th among 128 countries,

"Pakistan needs to update and timely submit the data on issues relevant to the economic empowerment of gender to international sources. It is crucial for Pakistan to reflect achievements made in the last few years to improve Pakistan's ranking on the Global Gender Gap Report of the WEF", he said.

The CSF, which is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Finance, the Government of Pakistan and the United States Agency for International Development, is the partner institution of the WEF in Pakistan.

Barrister Shahida Jamil asked the CSF to assist the Ministry of Women Development in identifying policy initiatives and projects which could contribute to increasing national competitiveness, while empowering women.

The CSF will be launching the state of Pakistan's Competitive Report 2008 in March with a special section on gender issues in Pakistan.

The CSF will include a chapter on gender in the state of Pakistan's Competitiveness Report 2008, which will identify the gender gaps affecting competitiveness in Pakistan, especially the areas identified by the WEF in its Global Competitiveness Report 2007-2008 and the Global Gender Gap Report 2007.

ANI