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Proceedings Day 1

Session 1: Gender Dynamics of Female Labour Force Participation:
  • Chair:
  • Mr. Jawwad Khan, CEO, Punjab Skills Development Fund (PSDF)
  • Panelists:
  • Ms. Uzma Quresh, Social Development Specialist (Gender), World Bank.
  • Dr. Katherine Vyborny, Post-doctoral Associate, Department of Economics Duke University
  • Dr. Tahir Andrabi, Inaugural Dean, School of Education, LUMS
  • Mr. Usman Khan, Department of Economics, LUMS
  • Mr. Sohail Shahzad, Additional Secretary Labour, Government of Punjab

The primary purpose of the panel was to shed light on the participation of women in labor force in Pakistan and focused on the profile of women’s work in Punjab, especially their work in agriculture and the possible drivers for increased labor force participation.

 
Session 2 A: Gender & Financial Inclusion:
  • Chair:
  • Mr. Qazi Azmat Isa, CEO, Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund
  • Panelists:
  • Ms. Sarah Hendriks, Director, Gender Equality, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
  • Mr. Yasir Ashfaq, CEO, Pakistan Microfinance Investment Company Limited (PMIC)
  • Ms. Roshaneh Zafar, Managing Director, Kashf Foundation
  • Ms. Saniya Ansar, Consultant, Global Findex, World Bank
  • Ms. Anum Malkani, Program Manager, Digital Financial Services, Karandaaz

The session focused on the policies and practices of donors, governments, and private sector actors to increase the financial inclusion of women in Pakistan. Some of the major topics that were discussed include overcoming supply-side barriers to women’s financial inclusion, an analysis of the Global Findex data, as well as the closing gender gap in digital financial inclusion (barriers, opportunities & evidence)

Session 2.B: Generating Data for Women Empowerment
  • Chair:
  • Ms. Melinda Good, Manager for Operations, World Bank Pakistan
  • Panelists:
  • Ms. Fauzia Viqar, Chairperson, Punjab Commission on the Status of Women
  • Mr. Sajid Rasool, Director General, Bureau of Statistics, Punjab
  • Dr. Yasmin Zaidi, National Consultant, PCSW | Mohammad Jehanzeb, Senior Program Manager, PCSW
  • Ms. Rabia Awan, Director, Pakistan Bureau Statistics
  • Dr. Aysha Sheraz, Director (R&S), National Institute of Population Studies

This panel highlighted the role of statistical surveys for evidence-based policy making. Further, the challenges faced and strategies applied in generating data on women during various steps of the survey process were also expounded upon with panelists drawing on their experience from previous surveys and shedding light on the global best practices.

 
Concurrent Session 3.A Women & the Sustainable Development Goals
  • Chair:
  • Mr. Jamshed Kazi, Country Representative of UN Women in Pakistan
  • Panelists:
  • Mr. Shakil Ahmed, Assistant Country Director, UNDP
  • Ms. Sarah Furrer, Social Development Advisor, DFID

This panel reviewed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from a gender lens, especially in light of the standards set by the federal and Punjab governments to meet the SDGs in the short and medium term. Further, it focused on SDG 5 in particular and whether or not it could help to achieve gender equality and connect the interlinkages between the SDGs for advancing gender equality and equity, as well as identifying the drivers of change for women in the 2030 agenda.

Concurrent Session 3B: Decent Work & the Informal Economy for Women
  • Mr. Hashim Zaidi, Global Urban Work Lead, Oxfam
  • Dr. Hadia Majid, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, LUMS
  • Ms. Warda Riaz, Teaching Fellow, Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani School of Humanities and Social Sciences, LUMS
  • Dr. Sajjad Akhtar, Independent Researcher
  • Haris Gazdar, Senior Researcher, Collective for Social Science Research

This panel discussed the impact of informal work on women in Pakistan where a large majority of women work in the non-agriculture sector belong to informal employment. Moreover, it shed light on the relationship between women’s work and poverty, food security and nutrition, linked long-term trends of female unpaid work with the economy, and the role of institutions in securing decent work for women and reducing the vulnerabilities of informal workers, including home-based and domestic workers.