For a brighter tomorrow

empowerment

In order to discuss the contribution of women in the labour force and making opportunities accessible to them, the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce & Industry (OICCI) held a women seminar in Karachi, recently. You! takes a look...

Women comprise over half of Pakistan’s population, yet only 22.7 per cent are part of the labour force. Even those who are part of the labour force are largely in the informal sector, receiving low pay and less legal protections. In the recent years, there have been important advances in gender equality and women empowerment in Pakistan. However, one can’t deny the fact that considerable progress is required for Pakistani women to fully access their rights, so that they are able to fulfil their life aspirations, and empower themselves to be full partners in development.

Keeping this in mind, recently, a seminar titled ‘Women- Empowering for a Brighter Tomorrow’ organised by the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce & Industry (OICCI) was held in Karachi. The main aim of this seminar was to discuss the contribution of women in the labour force, their empowerment in their fields and making opportunities accessible to them.

The day-long event was hosted by OICCI in collaboration with UN Women as part of an ambition to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals towards gender equality and to serve as an inspiration for businesses in Pakistan and beyond. OICCI represents a collective voice of major foreign investors in the country. The 193 OICCI members, from 35 different countries, have a presence in 14 sectors of the economy and contribute over one-third of Pakistan’s total tax revenue, besides facilitating transfer of technology and skills and providing employment to a sizeable proportion of the workforce.

The event was attended by a number of media organizations along with several companies. The CEOs of the participating organizations talked about their interventions for gender biasness in their companies and how they are coping up with it. Also, the OICCI and UN Women announced a pledge by its members in order to create more inclusive workplaces and empower women in the workforce across Pakistan.

To further this commitment over the next three years, OICCI members will focus on establishing a conducive environment and train women for high level corporate leadership. In moving towards realization of gender equality and women’s empowerment, UN Women Pakistan provides support to innovative initiatives that promote women’s human rights, with special focus on their economic security, political participation and freedom from violence.

At the event, Country Representative of UN Women Pakistan, Jamshed Kazi, took the stage and said, “Empowering women within the growing corporate sector is a challenge. The private sector can be the ‘agent of change’ to build a healthy environment where gender equality is considered a reality, encouraging more women to gain confidence in their ability to assume senior management positions including as CEOs and member of the Board of Directors.”

Regarding the economic benefit of gender equality Meral Guzel, UN Women’s Empower Women Coordinator for Europe and Central Asia informed, “Investing on women stimulates directly in social and economic development as they can give back and reinvest in their communities and households. The situation results in better housing, better education, girl schooling, better health for families. Furthermore, women become able to reinvest in their businesses. She elaborated her thoughts on the subject and said that women economy plays a key role in contributing to sustainable development by alleviating poverty, creation of jobs for other women, providing innovation and increasing local supply.”

Later on, Bruno Olierhoek, Chairman, OICCI CSR Subcommittee, stated, “The OICCI Women initiative wants to propose a concrete way forward, a ‘how to’ manual, helping organizations to have a women friendly work environment. I believe that OICCI together with UN Women can start a movement in Pakistan, by promoting this simple and pragmatic approach and thus making a real impact.”

The seminar came to an end with a panel discussion which was followed by question and answer session. During the discussion, CEOs and senior management of multinational corporations spoke about best practices of their companies which help them retain female talent. They also emphasized on its importance to be promoted in all organizations for gender-equality. The best practices included providing security and support for relocating, work with home-day care, maximizing their potential by making lean-in circles and formulating female orientated mentorship network.

The OICCI members will further work to increase advocacy amongst members as well as voicing the initiative to support formulating policies at government level which would benefit gender diversity at workplaces in the country.