Initiative launched for women workforce

ISLAMABAD: The United States Embassy Islamabad and the US Pakistan Women's Council (USPWC) have launched ‘Pakistan Future of Women and Work Initiative’ to help support women’s economic advancement in Pakistan.

The US embassy introduced the initiative in partnership with Texas A&M University, S&P Global, and the US Chamber of Commerce's US Pakistan Business Council.

The launch event highlighted a study on the impact of Covid-19 on women's workforce participation in Pakistan, which aimed to catalyse research, public discourse, and private sector commitments to address gaps facing women amidst the pandemic.

At the launch event, the State Department's acting principal deputy assistant secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Elizabeth Horst said, "Through the U.S. Pakistan Women's Council, the United States has been working for a decade to build bridges between the people of our two countries to support Pakistan's sustained prosperity, benefiting thousands of women in Pakistan.”

The initiative would help create a foundation for greater collaboration and exchange between the two countries on women's economic advancement, she added. Highlighting the US provision of $53.1 million in humanitarian assistance and resilience programming to support Pakistan in the wake of devastating floods, US ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome said, "Just as the Covid-19 pandemic highlights the disproportionate impact on women's participation in the workforce, the catastrophic flooding in Pakistan is a reminder that women and girls are among the most vulnerable groups during a humanitarian crisis.”

The ambassador said they would closely consider impacts of current flooding and other natural disasters on women and girls.

Managing director of S&P Global in Pakistan Mujeeb Zahur announced the corporation would put the data to use by partnering with USPWC to host workshops in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad to foster increased investments in women's workforce participation.