Gender equality for decent employment in Pakistan

Despite Pakistan’s significant progress over the last qears in terms of economic growth, there is still a significant gender imbalance in the labour market. Women’s reported share of the national income in Pakistan is less than 20 %, and their participation in the formal labour force is 22 %. Women’s low participation in the formal sector can be attributed to restrictions on their mobility, lack of access to productive and remunerative employment, systemic discrimination, and harassment.

This project aims to improve skills training and develop practical programmes to enhance women’s ability to access markets and earn wages for their families. Coupled with support for changes in labour legislation to facilitate women’s right to work outside of the home, the project will help ensure that women’s efforts and their contributions to the national economy are counted and recognized. The project will focus on technical assistance at the provincial and district level and providing women and men with information on business support services, linkages to micro-credit schemes, markets and better job opportunities. A significant component of the project will be training in skills for employment and entrepreneurship for up to 6,300 women and men in Pakistan.