Marginalization of women

According to a study released by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) has found that found that societal barriers remain to women’s representation and advancement in the civil service in Pakistan. The case study found that while civil service promotions are based on years in service, gender stereotyping and social norms affect civil service postings and women tend to be concentrated at entry level positions. It also found that women in Pakistan face entrenched societal attitudes and a multi-faceted approach that accounts for socioeconomic realities must be devised to increase women’s access to decision-making positions in public administration.
To enhance women’s access to decision-making in public administration, the report recommends the development of a strong evidence base on women’s representation in the civil service using systematic real-time reporting to inform future policy decisions; capacity building to achieve gender mainstreaming in government institutions through gender responsive budgeting; and the establishment of a supportive environment for women in the civil service by fostering women’s networks and South-South engagement.
The Gender Equality in Public Administration Pakistan Case Study 2017 is one of 15 in-depth case studies conducted around the world with UNDP support. The Pakistan case study was conducted using a new methodology developed in collaboration with the OECD and explores the development of women’s representation and access to decision-making roles in the civil service, surveys women’s perceptions of barriers and opportunities, and proposes policy and programmatic interventions.
Despite some improvement in recent years, women in Pakistani society continue to remain marginalized. Last year, the World Economic Forum placed Pakistan as the second worst country on gender equality in its Global Gender Gap index. It is the need of the hour that all stakeholders working to promote gender equality hold themselves accountable and show results that bear improvement in gender equality status in Pakistan.
Structural and cultural factors in a patriarchal society are a major reason for this marginalization.