NCSW, UNDP Hold Key Consultation on Gender Equality at Work
KARACHI: The National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW), in partnership with UNDP Pakistan under the European Union–funded Huqooq-e-Pakistan II Project, held its first provincial consultation on Gender Equality in the Private Sector in Karachi on Tuesday, bringing together key stakeholders to examine workplace challenges faced by women.
The consultation was led by NCSW Chairperson Ms. Ume Laila Azhar, who stressed the need to move beyond symbolic commitments toward ensuring real gender equality, dignity at work, and effective access to remedies for women across Pakistan’s private sector. She said Karachi, as the country’s economic hub and a major center of private employment, was a strategic starting point for dialogue aimed at closing the gap between legal protections and women’s lived workplace experiences in both formal and informal sectors.
The discussion followed a gender-responsive and gender-transformative framework aligned with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and Pakistan’s National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights, with focus on accountability, justice, and access to remedy. The chairperson noted that despite existing laws on workplace discrimination, harassment, and labor rights, women still face systemic barriers in hiring, equal pay, job security, safety, career advancement, and grievance redress. Weak implementation and institutional coordination, along with power imbalances, remain major obstacles.
Participants included representatives from private companies, banking and finance, textiles and garments, manufacturing, service industries, beauty salons, home-based workers, government departments, civil society groups, researchers, and development partners. Sector-specific group discussions produced practical recommendations, including strengthening workplace policies and culture, ensuring pay equity and fair recruitment, improving protection from harassment, establishing effective complaint mechanisms, and addressing the vulnerabilities of women in informal and outsourced work.
NCSW said the consultation outcomes will contribute to its Annual Gender Equality in the Private Sector Report and guide evidence-based policymaking. Similar consultations are planned in Peshawar, Lahore, and Quetta to support national-level policy advocacy and strengthen Pakistan’s commitments to international human rights and business standards.
