New report shows women still badly off at work

A new global report released by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on equality at work shows that women are still being discriminated against in the workplace worldwide, with Pakistan having one of the lowest rates in the world for female participation in the workforce. "Pakistan is one of the worst countries in terms of the number of women employed, and there is a huge gap in gender in the employment sector," the adviser to the ILO on labour issues in Pakistan, Aliya Khan, told IRIN in the capital, Islamabad. The total workforce in Pakistan today stands at 40 million, of whom 37 million are employed, under a definition of working for at least one hour per day. However, of this figure, a staggering 31.6 million are men and only five million are women, according to official statistics. "These figures are astounding, and [that] goes to show how much work needs to be done in [the task of] involving more women," she added. Khan explained that there were a number of reasons for such a small number of women in the workforce. "Most women are working in the informal sector, which is not recognised or accounted for when surveys are carried out," she said. Of those who were visible, 73 percent were working in the agricultural sector. Pakistan has signed Convention 111 on the elimination of discrimination in employment and occupation, and the equal remuneration convention, but those working for women's rights say much more needs to be done. Commenting on the report, entitled "Time for equality work", and the status of women at work in Pakistan, Misbah Tahir from the Aurat Foundation, a leading Pakistani NGO promoting women's rights, said although some positive progress had been made over the past few years, much more remained to be achieved. "Women are continuing to suffer in the workplace. They are still lower paid than men, and are completely abused in some cases," she told IRIN from the eastern Punjabi city of Lahore. "These women are yet to receive the credit they deserve," she stressed. According to a survey by the NGO, some 77 percent of women in employment country-wide are in the informal sector, where jobs are often badly paid, with no legal protection, and poor working conditions. Tahir pointed out that although these women workers were contributing significantly to the national economy, they were generally unrepresented in national development agendas. Meanwhile, government officials for women's development in the country boast that there are more women entering higher professions in Pakistan today than ever before. "This is the first time ever that we have seen such a large number of women in the decision-making process, with 60 women sitting in the Senate, and this shows the government's commitment to involving more women in all aspects of life," Parveen Qadir Agha, secretary to the government of Pakistan for the Ministry of Women's Development, Social Welfare and Special Education, told IRIN in Islamabad.