About 49 per cent of Pakistan’s population is comprised of women yet, as of 2019, they form only 22pc of its labour force. In fact, worryingly so, female participation in the formal sector is even lower, where it has remained stagnant at 10pc for around 20 years.

These statistics rank below the regional average of South Asia, including countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, as well as among the lowest in the world. They also contribute to Pakistan’s poor ranking on the Global Gender Gap Report of 2021, which is 153rd out of 156 countries.

Women in Pakistan continue to face a multitude of barriers to entry and staying employed. This can be chalked up to cultural perceptions, which limit women to childrearing and care-giving, as well as primarily responsible for domestic work. But the problem is exacerbated by the dearth of provisions for employees in Pakistan’s various businesses.

Firstly, there is a lack of safe, adequate, and affordable childcare facilities for working parents, along with the poor implementation of parental leaves and back-to-work programmes for new mothers. Secondly, even when the increased hiring of women is made a formal priority, organisations do not have strategies for their promotion into senior management positions, such as mentorship programs for working women or gender-sensitisation training against promotion discrimination. Thirdly, women find little recourse in cases of gender-based violence, which range from physical or sexual assault to bullying, intimidation, and coercion.

International Monetary Fund estimates that Pakistan would see a 30pc annual boost in its GDP if it closed the gender employment gap

Pakistan’s legal system has acknowledged the plight of working women through laws encased in the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act 2010, the Maternity and Paternity Leave Bill 2018, and related bills both on the provincial and federal levels. A more concerted effort is still required, however, to ensure these laws are implemented correctly through a strict process of transparency and accountability. The progress so far has been slow, with varying scales of implementation and overview, despite the fact that Pakistan has a strong incentive to ensure that its women are employed in secure, nurturing, and diverse environments. In a 2018 paper, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated that the country would see a 30pc annual boost in its GDP if it closed the gender employment gap.

Consequently, the next steps would require intervention programmes in the form of awareness campaigns, corporate training, or policy advocacy, helping align Pakistan with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 5 on gender equality and Goal 8 on decent work environments. However, the first step in conceptualising these interventions needs to be better insight of the landscape and obstacles women have in Pakistan’s private sector.

In this regard, the Pakistan Business Council (PBC) launched the “Gender Diversity and Disclosure in Pakistan” (GDDP) report in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation, under the Pak Investment Competitiveness (PIC) Project. The GDDP Report highlights a significant problem in devising interventionist strategies: there is an absence of adequate information required to assess the effectiveness of any major programme targeted towards increasing gender parity.

“The lack of regular reporting and disclosure has made it exceedingly difficult to gauge what progress is being made towards greater inclusiveness,” said Ehsan Malik, CEO of the PBC, at the launch of the GDDP Report, “and what is the effect the interventions are having.”

Through the report, the PIC Project emphasises the need for private sector companies to incorporate an annual collection and disclosure of data disaggregated on the basis of sex to effectively highlight their organisations’ impact on women’s economic empowerment. A step in this direction was initiated by the Pakistan Stock Exchange which, in its 2020 criteria of top-listed companies, added a 5pc weightage for annual reporting on diversity and inclusion, particularly women on boards and as department heads. It followed the Companies Act 2017 from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, which led to the 2017 (now superseded by the 2019) Listed Companies (Code of Corporate Governance) Regulations, mandating at least one female director on the boards of all listed companies.

This is crucial on a national level because increased transparency builds the trust of investors by reducing their perceptions of risk, subsequently boosting the country’s economic development through an enhanced influx of foreign capital. Businesses will also have the opportunity to reflect on their commitment to gender equality, leading to greater retention of their female talent and access to untapped markets of female consumers and clients. Most importantly, social disclosure practices shed light on the areas which still pose deterrents to women’s employment, helping to correct the disbalance in the distribution of influence and power in Pakistan.

Rajaa Bokhari is a Programme Manager for Inclusive Development at the Center of Excellence, PBC

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, November 8th, 2021