ISLAMABAD, Feb 10 (APP): The National Assembly Special Committee on Gender Mainstreaming met here on Monday.
Honorable Chairperson, Dr. Nafisa Shah, welcomed the Committee members and participants. She drew the Committee’s attention to a recent newspaper article highlighting women’s participation in Pakistan’s Civil Services.
The Committee urged the Federal Government to appoint the Chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women without further delay. Additionally, the Committee directed the Ministry of Human Rights to liaise with Provincial Governments to ensure the establishment of Provincial Commissions on the Status of Women as soon as possible.
The Committee directed the Ministry of Human Rights and the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics to provide detailed information on gender disparity indicators and sub-indicators at the earliest. The Committee expressed serious concerns about the statistics provided by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, specifically regarding the male-to-female sex ratio in Pakistan.
They also raised concerns about the data on employment for individuals aged 10 and above, broken down by gender, and rural and urban percentages, as reported in the Census 2023. The Committee has directed the Bureau of Statistics to provide a comprehensive briefing on these issues in the upcoming meeting.
The Secretary Ministry of Human Rights briefed the Committee on the initiatives undertaken by the Ministry in collaboration with the National Commission on the Status of Women to analyze the gender gap, particularly in relation to the global gender gap report published by the World Economic Forum, in which Pakistan ranks 145th out of 146 countries.
The Secretary further shared key indicators of gender gaps in various sectors, including health, education, access to justice, financial resources, and women’s representation on the Boards of Governors in listed companies.
The Secretary Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs informed the Committee that all Provincial Assemblies, including those of GB and AJ&K, except KPK, had already established Parliamentary Committees on Gender Mainstreaming. In response, the Committee directed the Secretary of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs to coordinate with the KPK Assembly and urge them to expedite the formation of their Parliamentary Committee on Gender Mainstreaming.
The meeting was attended by MNAs Ms. Shaista Pervaiz, Ms. Shahida Begum, Syed Hussain Tariq, Sher Ali Arbab, Khawaja Izhar ul Hassan and Senator Rubina Qaim Khani besides senior officers from the Ministries of Parliamentary Affairs, Human Rights, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics and National Commission on the Status of Women.