NGO launches economic empowerment events ahead of Women's Day

An Islamabad-based civil society group, the Society for the Advancement of Community, Health, Education and Training (SACHET), has launched a series of events over the next two weeks to promote gender harmony and empowerment through enhanced income generation opportunities for women. "On the political front, over the past few years we have seen steadily increasing awareness of the need to empower women. But to promote a wholesome concept of gender empowerment, economic empowerment of women is central to bringing a social equity in society and also to enhance their say in decision making,” Ayesha Javed, in-charge of SACHET’s programme for poverty alleviation-cum-income generation (PACIG), said in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Thursday. In the run up to International Women’s Day on 8 March, SACHET would organise a range of activities over the next two weeks, including an exhibition of the work of disadvantaged but skilled Pakistani women, as well as a screening of a documentary to highlight violence against women associated with the custom and institution of dowries. Pakistan's poor position internationally is seen in UNDP's Gender-related Development Index (GDI) 2000, where the country ranked 135 out of 174 countries. While on the same chart, the South Asian nation ranked 100 out of the 102 countries measured in terms of the Gender Empowerment Measurement, which determines gender inequality in such areas like economic and political participation and decision making. As part of its efforts to empower women politically, socially and economically, Islamabad approved a Gender Reform Action Plan in May in 2005 to improve the status and situation of women across the country. Advisor to Prime Minister on women issues, Nilofar Bakhtiar, earlier on Tuesday while inaugurating the weeks of activities marking the struggle of women empowerment, appreciated the efforts of civil society groups towards achieving the target. "The government is taking steps on its behalf to bring more gender equity, but we need collaboration of more NGOs promoting such healthy activities," Bakhtiar said. Bakhtiar further added that the government had been planning to hold an exposition in April this year where women’s products would be displayed - particularly from skilled women hailing from rural and far-off areas to provide them better marketing opportunities in corporate sector. To promote women's economic empowerment, “A three-pronged strategy governs SACHET's approach; arranging skill development activities, imparting training on how to conduct business within limited resources and providing a marketing outlet for products,” Javed explained. SACHET’s marketing outlet provides women with an opportunity to sell their products without interacting with any middleman and thus making more profits. “This way, they [females] get 80 percent of the actual sale money, while through middleman they get only 30 percent of the market price,” Javed noted.