October 24, 2003	Friday	Sha’aban 27, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 23: The working women in the rural areas of the country are facing a number of challenges ranging from lack of access to education and skill development to gender discrimination in the labour markets.

This was underlined in the country paper presented at the SAARC Training Workshop on “Micro Entrepreneurship Amongst Rural Women” organised by the federal ministry of women development, social welfare and special education here on Thursday.

The paper said the data and analysis showed that a majority of Pakistani rural women were engaged in some economic activity. However, either their economic role was not fully appreciated or not rewarded adequately.

The total women population of rural areas is about 46 million that constitutes 47 per cent of the total rural population. Only 20 per cent of rural women are literate and 42 per cent women of the total population are economically active persons in agriculture households.

The evidence of women activities in the rural areas shows that the rural Pakistani women are not only responsible for time and energy-consuming household tasks but also major contributors to the rural economy mainly in three sub-sectors; crop production, livestock production and cotton industry.

In some of the agricultural areas in the country, as many as 82 per cent women participate in agriculture work. Some studies show that women are responsible for 25 per cent production of major crops and 30 per cent for food.

In the livestock production and development sector, women have primary responsibility for eight out of 14 processes, while they are also active in remaining six activities. While agriculture and livestock are the predominant source of women’s employment, home-based income earning activities are also important.

Likewise, 15.7 per cent of women participants in the labour force are those who are engaged in home-based industry, as Pakistani women have an exclusive responsibility in works such as embroidery, tailoring, weaving, leatherwork, pottery, ceramic and food processing.

It added that less that one per cent of Pakistani rural women were engaged in work outside the home in non-agriculture sectors. With an overwhelming number of women in the rural areas being illiterate, very few of them have the capacity to work in non- agriculture sectors.

There are only 15 vocational colleges in Pakistan for women and only 233 vocational institutes in public sector for the entire women population of both urban and rural areas. Though, some NGOs have established vocational training institutes in the private sector, very few of them are accessible to the rural women.