ISLAMABAD: Speakers at a conference here on Thursday stressed the role of women in alleviating poverty in the country.

In Pakistan, only 26 per cent women are participating in economic activities. Out of these, 70 per cent are engaged in the agriculture sector. However, 31 per cent of the women do not get any financial incentives.

The South Asian regional conference on ‘Women, work and poverty’ was organised by the Social Policy and Development Centre (SPDC) at a local hotel.

Speaking on the occasion, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said the role of women was very important for the development of the country.

“Though Pakistan is among the middle income countries, whenever social indicators are discussed the country is placed in the list of Third World nations. There are issues of education, malnutrition and financial conditions,” he said.

“We do not have abundance of resources, so we need to priorities in which sector we should invest. Pakistan invested in higher education for seven years and produced over 7,000 PhDs without any vision due to which there is less productivity,” he said.

He said Pakistan generated most of its revenue by exporting textile products but out of the 7,000 PhDs even 15 were not sent to do specialise in the textile sector.

He said a national research conference would be held at the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to discuss what kind of research work should be carried out in the country.

Talking to mediapersons, Mr Iqbal said the Ministry of Finance had started preparing the new budget which would be ‘economy friendly’. In the past, he added, investment of billions of dollars came to the country but due to the lack of vision the funds could not be utilised positively.

Norwegian Ambassador Cecilie Landsverk said economy can only improve if the potentials of all members of society were used.

Giving the example of her country, Ms Landsverk said 50 years back there was a concept that only man should work but now seven out of 10 women worked in Norway.

She said 50 per cent leadership should be women in Pakistan because only that was how social indicators would start increasing.

Member board of directors SPDC Saba Gul Khattak said it takes 10 to 15 years to transform an idea into a policy.

“Through the conference, ideas will be given to the government. Projects like Benazir Income Support Programme cannot eliminate poverty. In Pakistan, poverty can only be eliminated if causes of poverty are rooted out,” she said.