ISLAMABAD: Experts at a conference on Monday said Pakistan had made progress in meeting gender equity and women empowerment goals amid persisting structural, legal and cultural barriers.

They urged accelerated efforts in gender-responsive budgeting, stronger law enforcement and active community engagement to ensure that the commitments made under Beijing+30 and SDG-5 translate into tangible improvements in women’s lives.

The conference ‘Rights, equality, empowerment through Beijing+30 in Pakistan: reflections, challenges and future directions’ was organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) to mark International Women’s Day.

In his opening remarks, Dr Shafqat Munir Ahmed, SDPI Deputy Executive Director said Pakistan had been an active participant in the Beijing+30 forum, striving to uphold women’s rights and drive global commitments to gender equality.

He said patriarchal and structural mindsets remained major barriers, embedding a system that continued to sideline women.

Gender and women’s expert, SDPI, Sadia Satti in her technical keynote analysed the nine progress on the key targets of SDG-5, which included ending discrimination, eliminating gender-based violence and abolishing harmful practices.

She pointed out that during the Covid pandemic and 2022 floods, women and children were 14 times more likely to die than men, and 69 per cent of girls dropped out of school in flood-affected areas.

Barira Hanif, member of the planning ministry and gender expert, shed light on Uraan Pakistan, a newly-launched initiative aimed at promoting equity and gender empowerment alongside economic development.

She said efforts were being made to mainstream gender in planning and development, particularly at the local community level.

Saman Ahsan from UN Women reflected on the Beijing Declaration, recalling that Pakistan was represented by a female prime minister when it was passed. Despite progress in legislative reforms and increased women’s participation in politics, significant gaps remain in implementation and enforcement.

Legal expert Riffat Inam Butt, former secretary law and justice, underscored the importance of gender-disaggregated data to develop inclusive policies. She said only 8pc of the total workforce in the federal government comprised women, and media representation of women in leadership roles remained low.

Dr Fareeha Armughan, research fellow at SDPI, emphasised the urgency of shifting from gender-exploitative to comprehensive gender-transformative model.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2025