Gender Mainstreaming Policy

Gender Mainstreaming

Policy Highlights to Promote Gender in Pakistan

Samia Raoof Ali, WiC

NCRD Islamabad, 11 Feb 2014

Introduction to the Presentation

Starts with the Historical Perspective of Women and Development, moving to Gender in the light of the International Conferences, Frameworks and Instruments

International Commitments of the Government of Pakistan

National Commitments within the (i) National Context and (ii) relevance to the International obligations

National Policies, Frameworks and Strategies to support gender

Gaps and Challenges to Gender Mainstreaming

Historical Perspective

International Commitments of the Government of Pakistan

National Commitments

National Frameworks and Measures

Historical Perspective International Commitments

Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) established in June 1946, by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

to ensure the empowerment of women and gender equality and to provide recommendations to the Council on the obstacles relating women’s rights in political, economic, civil, social and education fields.

(contd)

Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948

Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2: Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status………

Article 3:Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person

Article 17: Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

International UN Conferences on Women: Consequence of CSW

CSW organized a series of four World Conferences on Women held over the years since 1975

The conferences have sought to unite the international community behind a set of common objectives with an effective plan of action for the advancement of women everywhere, in all spheres of public and private life.

The UN Conferences for Women

First Women Conference was held in Mexico City in 1975 attended by more the 1,000 people. This was followed by:

The second Conference in Copenhagen in 1979 attended by 145 delegates

The third in Nairobi in 1985 The fourth in Beijing in 1995

The Conference for Women in Mexico City 1975

The Conference led to International Women Day (8 March), International Women Year and eventually to the International Women Decade (1976 to 1985)

The First World Plan of Action for Women was adopted and called upon governments to develop strategies that would bring gender equality, eliminate gender discrimination and integrate women in development and peace-building.


Within the United Nations, the Plan of Action also led to the establishment of:

the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW)

the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)


Within the United Nations, the Plan of Action also led to the establishment of:

the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW)

the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

CEDAW 1979

The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly

It is also described as an international Bill of Rights for women

It came into force on 3 September 1981

The Decade of International Conferences 1990’s and Gender

Child Rights Convention 1990 International Conference of AIDs 1991 United Nations Conference on Environment

and Development (UNCED) 1992, Rio World Conference on Human Rights 1993,

Vienna International Conference on Population and

Development (ICPD) 1994, Cairo

The Decade of International Conferences 1990’s and Gender

The Fourth World Conference on Women, 1995, Beijing

World Summit for Social Development,1996, Copenhagen

Habitat II, the second UN Habitat summit, 1998, Istanbul

Decade for Education Dakar Declaration Millennium Development Goals 2000

Pakistan Movement

Women were an integral part in the struggle of the freedom movement for Pakistan under the banner of the Muslim League.

There was widespread mobilization of women and they played a key role in the attainment of a separate homeland.

Their public role was reinforced when they organized themselves to provide relief and rehabilitation to the millions of refugees that flooded the country after the Partition in the critical times.

The Constitution of Pakistan 1973

The Constitution of Pakistan the most important legal document guarantees equal status to both men and women and speaks of women’s rights.

Article 25 of the Constitution clearly states: All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law.

There shall be no discrimination on the basis of sex alone.

The Constitution of Pakistan 1973 (contd)

Nothing in this Article shall prevent the state from making any special provision for the protection of women and children.

Where the constitution guarantees equality, freedom, rights and dignity to all its citizens, its actual spirit is not in practice, and women are subjugated to marginalization in all social, cultural and economic fields.

The Constitution of Pakistan 1973 (contd)

Nothing in this Article shall prevent the state from making any special provision for the protection of women and children.

Where the constitution guarantees equality, freedom, rights and dignity to all its citizens, its actual spirit is not in practice, and women are subjugated to marginalization in all social, cultural and economic fields.

Constitution of Pakistan(contd)

Education is a fundamental right. The Constitution in Article 25A guarantees Right to Education. ---The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such manner as may be determined by law.

Constitution of Pakistan(contd)

Inheritance The country has been ranked 93rd out of 115 in property rights protection and 86th in gender equality in the International Property Rights Index (IPRI) 2008. 98% population in Pakistan is Muslim and Islam gives rights of inheritance to all inheritors either male or female. The Constitution of Pakistan (1973) also protects the women’s right of inheritance and so is the other law of inheritance is prevailing in the country. Muslim Inheritance Laws guarantee the inheritance of women as per Shariat. However, the procedural and codal requirements for the procurement of land as well as other properties make it nearly impossible for the women to get their rights. Revenue documents and other legal documents for attaining the title are un-understandable for the illiterate women.

Policy initiatives of Government of Pakistan

This section mentions various Policy level, legal and institutional frameworks which support gender equality and rights based approaches and relates to some important aspects and measures on gender.


The 1972 Administrative Reforms of the Civil Services opened the competition for women. This was the first initiative for women to come on open merit in the most prestigious cadre of government public service

As a result of these reforms women came to foreign service and have arisen to Ambassadorial position not as appointees but through their professional career competencies. Presently there are 13 women heading diplomatic missions. There are 74 women in the diplomatic missions on important posts.


This also includes the first visually impaired who acquired 6th position in the competition in 2009

Women are 14% of the male dominated Ministry of Foreign Affairs

A woman had also headed the ministry and served as the youngest foreign minister

The rise of professional women diplomats is an important process of gender empowerment


In the 1970 General Election though limited a number of women contested on general seats. However, as an affirmative action women entered the National and Provincial Assemblies on reserved seats with 10% and 5% reserved seats respectively

In 1985 in the non party based elections reserved seats were increased to 20%

In the government services there was 5% quota for women. However, it was not fulfilled.

Presently it has is 10% at the Federal level approved in 2006

Policy Initiatives of Government of Pakistan

In 1979 Women Division was established in the Cabinet Secretariat

In 1989 Women Division was upgraded to a full fledged Ministry of Women and Development (MoWD)

MoWD established five Women Study Centres in five Universities; Karachi, Quetta, Lahore, Peshawer and Islamabad


In 1989 The First Women Bank Ltd was opened (FWBL) was established in 1989 to address women's financial needs. FWBL, a nationalised commercial bank, was given the role of a development finance institution, as well as of a social welfare organisation. It operates 38 real-time online branches across the country, managed and run by women. MWD provided a credit line of Rs 48 million to FWBL to finance small-scale credit schemes for disadvantaged women.

The Social Action Programme launched in 1992/93 aimed at reducing gender disparities by improving women's access to social services but no much was achieved.

First Women University was established in 1998


Government of Pakistan was signatory to a number of international commitments promoting gender equality. It took various initiatives to comply with these commitments hence initiating a process of initiatives promoting gender equality and empowerment of women.

These initiatives were in dovetail with each other and complemented the GoP’s efforts to its international commitments to enhance gender mainstreaming, and reform process to achieve gender equality and empowerment of women.

CEDAW: Policy Initiatives of Government of Pakistan

Government of Pakistan signed the document in 1995 on the eve of the Beijing Conference on Women and ratified the Convention in 1996. It is the fundamental international instrument for addressing all forms of discrimination against women. However, the progress on CEDAW had been poor till the date, although there has been much campaigning by the CSOs and media demanding for progress on CEDAW

Policy Initiatives of GoPNPA and NPEDW

In the wake of Beijing Conference 1995, the Government through its national machinery, Ministry of Women and Development (MoWD) formulated and launched the National Plan of Action for Women in 1998. It was an outcome of a consultative process of government and civil society organizations.

GoP formulated the first National Policy for Empowerment and Development of Women (NPEDW) in 2002 also through an exhaustive process ensuring participation of provinces and federal levels, and CSOs

Policy Initiatives of GoP National Plan of Action

The National Plan of Action (NPA) for women establishes a set of priority actions formulated to help achieve the agenda for the empowerment of women in Pakistan. NPA is prepared on the basis of a national participatory process, involving Federal and Provincial governments, NGOs, women organizations and individual experts. The NPA aims to facilitate women’s participation in all spheres of life besides ensuring protection of women’s rights within the family and the society.

National Policy on Empowerment and Development of Women

This policy was formulated in March 2002 for development and empowerment of women and. The effort was made to reflect the gender perspective in all national policies and plans. The goal of this policy was empowerment of Pakistani women, irrespective of caste, creed, religion, or other consideration for the realization of their full potential in all spheres of life, especially social, economic, personal & political & in keeping with our Islamic way of life.

National Commission on the Status of Women

NCSW a statutory body was promulgated through NCSW Ordinance 2000 as a consequence of the national and international commitments of the Government of Pakistan like Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 1995; and National Plan of Action (NPA) for Women, 1998.

The National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) was established with the specific purpose to: Examine policies, programs and other measures taken by the Government for women’s development and gender equality; Review laws, rules and regulations affecting the status of women; Monitor mechanisms and institutional procedures for redress of violations of women’s rights and individual grievances

Three Commissions completed their Terms and there was a gap. In 2012 Bill was passed establishing the Commission as a permanent body functioning under an outstanding Chairperson

Millennium Development Goals

Pakistan is also signatory to the Millennium Declaration (2000). Millennium Development Goals have eight goals including the goal to promote gender equality and women empowerment.

These goals form the basis for national development efforts. They are built on agreements made at United Nations

Conferences in the 1990s and represent commitments by all countries to reduce poverty and hunger, and to tackle ill-health, gender inequality, lack of education, lack of access to clean water and environmental degradation.

The overall progress in Pakistan on MDGs has been too slow for most of the targets including gender equality and women empowerment to be met by 2015.

Pakistan Poverty Reduction Strategy

The guiding principle policy document of the GoP addresses gender as a cross cutting theme and emphasizes on Gender mainstreaming as an essential requirement to achieve the poverty reduction goals.

Gender Mainstreaming (Planning Commission/ UNDP) Project was initiated in the Planning & Development departments to ensure the process of gender mainstreaming.

Political Reform Process of NRB: Local Government Ordinance, Political

Participation of Women

According to the NRB reforms Agenda in the past decade the government made space to create an enabling environment for women by enhancing their representation to 33% reserved seats in the legislative assemblies and local government.

Significant improvement was made in the seats held by women in national parliament from just 0.9 percent in the National Assembly and 1.0 percent in the Senate, to 21 percent in National Assembly and 17 percent in Senate.

Positions of Prominence by Women

Women rose to eminent positions as Federal

Secretaries, ministers, First Speaker of the National Assembly, First Defence Secretary, Foreign Minister, Environment Minister, provincial deputy speaker, eminent political assignments as ambassadors.

Middle class women have set forth on a journey of empowerment through private sector, as hostesses, beauticians, designers and many other ways. This is possible through government support in creating a conducive environment for women

Positions of Prominence by Women

In December 2006, for the first time, women cadets

from the Military Academy Kakul assumed guard duty at the mausoleum of Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Women starting coming forth to join Pakistan Air Force as pilots

Gender Reform Action Plan (GRAP)

The Gender Reform Action Plan (GRAP) envisaged

reforms in the public sector at Provincial and District level with the focus on women’s empowerment as its prime objective. GRAP supported improving framework of gender policies, and developing institutional reform proposals outlining interventions at the federal, provincial and distinct level with an aim for a proactive approach to include gender perspectives in public sector policies, programmes and projects.

Legislation

Criminal Law (Crimes in the name of Honour) Amendment Act, 2004

The Protection of Women (Criminal Laws Amendments) Act, 2006. July 7, 2006 more than 1300 women languishing in jails because of the controvesrial Hadood Ordinance were released on immediate bail

Prevention of Harassment at Workplace Act, 2010

Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Act, 2010

Legislation

Two additional bills were signed into law by the President in December 2012 criminalizing the primitive practices of Vani, watta-satta, swara and marriage to Holy Quran which used women as tradable commodities for settlement of disputes.

Furthermore special task force was established in the interior Sindh region for action against the practice of Karo Kari

Help lines and offices established in the districts of Sukker, Jacobabad, Larkana and Khairpur

The Protection of Women (Criminal Laws Amendments) Act, 2006

This bill amended the Pakistan Penal Code, the Code of

Criminal Procedure and other laws to provide relief and protection to women against misuse and abuse of law and to prevent their exploitation. This law actually amended the Zina Ordinance and the Qazaf Ordinance 1979. The amendments of the Hudood Ordinances have broken the “myth” that the Hudood Ordinances are God made laws and should not be altered. The Hudood Laws which were imposed on the people of Pakistan through an Ordinance (undemocratically) were amended by a democratic process.

These also gave relief to women who were unfairly registered under Zina Ordinance when they complained of Rape.

Criminal Law (Crimes in the name of Honour) Amendment Act, 2004

The statement of objects and reasons of the Bill states that the "issue of honour-killing and other honour crimes committed in the name of 'karo-kari, siyah-kari and similar other customs has always been a matter of concern of human rights organizations and the public which has assumed more significance in the recent years".

The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2004 which proposes amendments of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), 1860 enhances punishment for the offence of murders carried out in the name of honour. However, the word 'honour killing' has been replaced with 'honour crime' to make it mild and acceptable to various sections of the society.

Prevention of Harassment at Workplace Act, 2010

The purpose of this Bill is to ensure a work environment where women and men can feel safe at work and to have fair accountability system for any gender harassment or abuse at the workplace.

Whereas Islam and the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan aim at elimination of all forms of exploitation, protection of body, liberty, reputation and dignity of men and woman and safeguard against discrimination based on gender.

Further recognize the principles of equal opportunity and right to earn a livelihood without fear of abuse and harassment; it is, therefore, necessary and expedient to provide a law for guaranteeing safe work environment and eliminating discrimination.

Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Act, 2010

This bill was introduced and was passed in national assembly in 2010 in relation to protection against acid crimes and rehabilitation of and compensation for victims of acid crimes.

Whereas constitution recognizes the fundamental rights of women and children to security of life and liberty and dignity of person;

And whereas it is expedient to institutionalize measures which prevent and protect women and children from acid crimes and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto;

Concerns and Issues

Legislation from 1977 to 1988 period had negative implications on women

Despite efforts of poverty reduction at the policy level poverty is on the rise which also has adverse affects on both gender as well as children. Boys and girls are affected

Challenges and Concerns

1 Security situation Mobility of staff to the provincial, district and

target area

Natural Disasters

Future Direction - Recommendations

An updated programme-centred intervention framework

Establish a concept and Logical Framework for capacity development

The CPP is still in a process to develop an Action Plan for partner development (CONTD)

Future Direction – Recommendations

The CPP has to develop its sustainable outlook beyond 2015 at an early date

Evaluation of outcomes

Capacity Building and Training

Capacity Building and Training is the dire need for the WHH Partners

MTE in a nutshell

Relevance: Project is very much relevant to the GoP Preliminary Damage and Needs Assessment

Effectiveness:……. Efficiency:……. Impact: ………….. Sustainability: Outcome orientation to be promoted to

achieve sustainability

Thank you !