Bridging the gender gap – A Show Piece

Writes Shamshad Ahmad, a former foreign secretary. (To read complete article click on the title above)

Instead of organizing activities or events perceived as “culturally inappropriate”, we should be applying our energies and resources to plugging the gender gap in education, health and employment.

The administration of justice is another crucial area where gender-based discrimination manifests itself for the women in Pakistan.

In recent years, no doubt, there has been a conspicuous increase in the number of women in our political institutions, but merely showcasing the presence of a few privileged females in our legislative chambers is neither gender-mainstreaming nor empowering women.

Successive governments in Pakistan have only paid politically motivated lip-service to the cause of women. . . Instead of indulging in diversionary antics, which at times may be inconsistent with our religious and eastern value system, we need to focus more on coherent and concrete legal reforms

Laws that discriminate against women remain in the books and are actively enforced while discriminatory access to government resources and services continues unchecked.

Our misplaced priorities and cultural barriers have kept the ratio of girls’ enrolment in schools among the lowest in the world.

Is that not Hypocrisy ?