EventsLaunch Ceremony - 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence
Launch Ceremony - 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence
December 10, 2008 - 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights!
CEDAW - Expert Group Meeting
Legislation on Cards to End Violence Against Women
EVAW Joint Event - Brief Report
Benazir a strong advocate of women's rights, says UN WOMEN
Reducing feminized poverty is one of UN WOMEN’s four strategic areas of critical concern. The path out of poverty requires economic and legislative frameworks that address women’s exclusion from the economic mainstream. UN WOMEN endeavors to strengthen the capacity of the government to formulate and implement adequate legislation towards promoting and protecting women’s human rights, including decent work for women.
In Pakistan, three-fifths of employed women are working as unpaid family helpers (UPFHs), while 15 percent of them are self-employed and only twenty five percent are working as legitimate employees. Further, more than two-thirds of employed women are in the agriculture sector. The connection between illiteracy and unemployment is clear, as the proportion of illiterate unemployed women (64.6%) is almost double that of men (34.7%). Workplace gender-related issues, such as harassment, discrimination, equal pay for equal work, day care centers, availability of toilets, and maternity leave are currently not being adequately addressed.
In line with UN WOMEN’s mandate to reduce female poverty and review legislation to implement actions needed to harmonize the legal system with CEDAW in Pakistan, UN WOMEN, working together with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the PPC and the Ministry of Labour, has contributed to engendering the National Employment Policy (NEP).
UN WOMEN’s recommendations regarding the capacity and rights of marginalized women’s groups such as home based workers, UPFHs, agricultural workers, illiterate women, unemployed women, and other women working in informal occupations, were taken into account in the NEP. UN WOMEN continues to work with the Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Women’s Development, and other line ministries to ensure effective implementation and enforcement of the NEP and further legislation in favour of women’s equal opportunity in terms of employment.
