KARACHI: Women seek equal chances for role in country’s uplift
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, March 18: Speakers at a seminar on Saturday demanded that equal opportunities should be provided to women so they can play their due role in the social and economic development of the country.
They were speaking at the inauguration of a four-day workshop for the “Development of Women Entrepreneurship” organized jointly by the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI); Islamic Development Bank, SMEDA and E-commerce Gateway at the Expo Centre.
The Secretary General of Women’s Solidarity Association of Iran, Fatemeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, said though divine religions, Islamic laws and international instruments clearly stated that women and men were equal in enjoying the benefits of rights, the realities and facts on ground were very far from this ideal of humanity.
She said the proportion of educated women in Islamic societies was increasing but they were still at a lower ratio in economically gainful and productive employment.
This she said was unfortunately due to the sociology of the employment world that still exhibited a male dominated attitude towards the division of labour on the basis of gender differences and traditional outlook.
Ms Rafsanjani, who is the daughter of a former Iranian president, said the negative attitude towards the social role of women and presenting a predetermined definition of her role, limiting it to household tasks, and caring for children and husband, were among the basic reasons for opposition to women’s social presence.
She said that despite all constraints, women have been able to beat the odds and surmount all hurdles and their creative mind and talents have paved the way for their entrepreneurial pursuits.
She said that women have tried to remove and eliminate social constraints and restrictions through accommodation, dialogue and enlightenment, as they believe in changing the mindset and traditional ways of thinking that might be prejudicial to women.
She said that in the arena of business, basic problems like inadequacies of laws and legislations, bureaucracy and troublesome rules and regulations have nothing to do with gender differences.
But, women face more hardships owing to absence of vigorous cultural, social, political and economic infrastructures, which have deep historical roots and steps are needed to be taken to lay and create these infrastructures by careful review and exploring proper solutions.
Sindh Women Development Minister Saeeda Malik said the government was doing a lot for empowerment of women, citing the reserved quota of 33 per cent for women in local bodies and over 17 per cent in the parliament so they could play their due role and give their input at the decision making forums.
She said various skill development trainings were being organized for women, and over seven projects were being implemented for the economic empowerment of women in the province.
An industrial park was being developed for women. She said that rural women, who were in majority, were the worst sufferers and plans were being made to improve the quality of their lives.
The First Women Bank chief, Zarine Aziz, said her organization was not only providing loans to women entrepreneurs but were also organizing various skill development trainings for them in the field of marketing, taxes, etc, so they could operate their business efficiently.
She said over 80 per cent of the bank’s clients were women, and over Rs8.4 billion had been disbursed to them with an outstanding recovery rate of over 98 per cent.
She said the bank had partnered with the ILO in a project to eliminate child labour within the carpet industry by providing credits to their mothers. While under another project, it was providing credit to rural women for the revival of traditional craft.
Atiya Nawazish Ali of the ICCI said the workshop was being held as a follow-up of the First Forum of Women Entrepreneurship that was organized by the chamber in Sharjah, UAE in March 2005.
The event had highlighted the need for providing technical assistance to women entrepreneurs in order to upgrade their management, marketing, etc skills so they could compete in the international market.
Iqbal Kidwai, Dr Mirza, Kamran Saeed and others also spoke. The messages of the OIC Secretary General, Dr Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, ICCI president Shaikh Saleh bin Abdullah Kamel, and Smeda chief Shahab Khwaja were also read out.
Over 40 women entrepreneurs from Bangladesh, Cameron, Iran, Jordan, Kyrgyz republic, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Singapore, Sudan, Uzbekistan, Uganda and Pakistan are participating in the workshop that is being organized in parallel to the 3rd Textile Asia 2006 – International Textile and Garment Machinery Show.
