By: Dr. Muhammad Shahid
Gender mainstreaming is mandated by the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action as a strategic approach for achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment at all levels of development. Gender Development Index (GDI) or Gender-related Development Index (DRDI) is introduced in the human development report of the United Nation Development Program (UNDP). These report accounts for disparities between men and women in three basic dimensions of human development including health, education and standard of living. Gender Development Index report is very useful to assess the existing gaps between men and women and help design effective, gender-focused policies to eliminate these gaps.
The latest gender development index ranked Pakistan 152 in the global community indicating that women are still lagging behind their male counterpart in this country. The troubling aspect of the Gender Development Index report is the lower ranking of Pakistan among the regional South Asian countries as well. HDI value for female indicates that India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan performed better than Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan with HDI value of 0.464 for female is only ahead of Afghanistan with HDI value of 0.411 for female.
Further analysis of the report reveals that GDI value for Pakistan 0.747 is higher than Afghanistan with the value of 0.723. The rest of the countries including India with a score of 0.829, Bangladesh 0.895, Sri-Lanka 0.938, Nepal 0.897, Bhutan 0.893 and Maldives with a GDI score of 0.939.
Data on female life expectancy in the South Asian countries indicate that Afghanistan ranked at the lowest with average life of 66 years for female followed by Pakistan with 68.1 years. The remaining countries in the gender development index scored greater than Pakistan and Afghanistan. Female life expectancy at the time of birth in India is 70.7, Bangladesh 74.3, Sri-Lanka 80.1, Nepal 71.9, Bhutan 71.8 and female life expectancy at the time of birth in Maldives is 80.5.
When it comes to educational attainment for female in the South Asian countries, this is very unfortunate that Pakistan ranked at the lowest. Expected years in school for female in Pakistan is 7.8 years. Afghanistan performed better and the expected years of schooling for female are 7.9 years. India 12.9, Bangladesh 11.6, Sri Lanka 14.2, Nepal 12.7, Bhutan 12.2 and expected years of schooling for female in Maldives is 12.2 years. Policy Options on the Table:
Both women and men should work together in order to build an inclusive society. The current roles available to women in the society foster desperation and frustration among women. No one can deny the role of institutions to accommodate the different needs and interests of women. Institutional arrangements and legislations by the government to protect women are critical but oppression of women cannot be eliminated till some fundamental changes occur in the society including changes in the institutions of marriage and family. Restricting ourselves to only legal reforms would not be sufficient to end disparities and liberate women. Genuine gender equality demands genuine freedom. Genuine equality would be attained only when women held equal power and were no longer dependent on men for financial support. Women-centered institutions to create productive opportunities for women are critical. This will increase their financial independency, end patriarchal culture and male domination in the society. Other gender-related reforms include public provision of child-care facilities, nationalized health care, and investment in social infrastructure, day care centers to increase the chances for women to actively participate in economic activities and government efforts to expand job opportunities for women. Besides government initiatives, private employers should also offer more flexible work schedules, paid leaves for pregnant women and some kind of compensation for absence from work due to parenting.
Besides institutional arrangements by the government, we also need to dismantle the existing stereotype that women are less productive and are uniquely suited for the roles of care-giver and homemaker. Denying more than half the population a full opportunity to participate and contribute to economic activity is alarming. We need to make our economy and society more inclusive by increasing women’s participation in the workforce, closing the pay gap between men and women, and helping more women advance into leadership roles.
-The author has a PhD Degree in Economics from PIDE and has 15 years’ experience as a journalist and economic editor. He also teaches Public Policy, Governance, Poverty and Development, Gender and Political Economy as a visiting faculty member at IMSciences.