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Women empowerment cannot be achieved until and unless they are financially independent, states Naureen Bakhsh Chaudhry
The world has certainly become a global village, causing goods to move freely and consequently priced at globally comparable rates. Inflation is a phenomenon stranger to none. From the domestic servant in your home to the executive working in a multi national, bearing the expenses has become an uphill task. Gone are the days when a single bread earner used to be able to provide for the whole family.
At this point in time, it is not possible for a single member of the family to fulfil the expenses and that too for large families. As the saying goes it is much better to "teach someone how to fish" than "give them a fish". This means that if you "teach someone how to fish'' they are then able to catch their own fish, become independent, and much more valuable. Women need to break off their stereotypical image of staying at home and doing the usual household chores, instead to reduce their financial problems, we need to teach them how to earn their bread.
The financial contribution of the women will secure their future and that of their children. Financial instability is one of root causes that cause domestic problems and violence in the home. Women's own income apart from the actual amount and its final use, positively influences the self-perception of the women, enhances their independence, status and decision making, and increases their mobility outside their families. It is evident that the female participation rate in the labour force in Pakistan is one of the lowest worldwide. A global report released by the International Labour Organization (ILO, 2003) on equality at work shows that women are still being discriminated against in the workplace worldwide, with Pakistan having one of the lowest rates in the world for female participation in the workforce.
A woman's involvement in household decision making in poor Pakistani households can be explained partially by her income earning status, which in turn is dependent on a multitude of factors. These factors include individual chaachteristics (such as her age, duration of marriage, literacy and number of living children), socioeconomic status, and attitude of family members about women working outside the home, and availability and accessibility to financial support systems. According to a study conducted by Khan and Qureshi (2002) that as compared with housewives, a significantly larger proportion of working women reported have greater autonomy as measured either by involvement in or independent domestic decision making as well as in freedom of movement. Employment of women thus seems to be an enabling process helps to break down the patriarchal system and promote egalitarian relationships within households. Paid work for women is likely to bring internal change within the family by transforming power relationships between men and women (Mhloyi 1994).
In the 1970-90 era, the Asian Pacific countries recorded a 1.96% increase in GDP for every 1% of women's participation in the non-governmental employment. Female economic participation in newly industrialized countries' (NlCs) economic growth over three decades contributed 35-40% of their annual GDP growth. Pakistan definitely needs the women participation to come out of its economic slumber.
Women empowerment cannot be achieved until and unless they are financially independent. If we look around at some countries such as India, Bangladesh, China, Japan and Israel, their women are contributing largely to the economy and their contribution is growing. The women of these countries contribute largely to their economies besides being housewives. The economic contribution of women has a highly positive impact on the growth rate of the economy. Pakistan needs to initiate programs which promote women employment and entrepreneurship.
Education for girls
Pakistan is supposedly enjoying the facilities of the 21st century, whereas our womenfolk are not educated. So do we still enjoy the 21st century amenities? The most vital aspect is to start at the youngest level and promote education for girls. Primary education must be compulsory for all girls, future employment and even running a business definitely requires the woman to have at least the basic education. For those who cannot send their girls to school due to financial instability, their families can be encouraged to send the girls to school by providing the girls with opportunities to earn while at school with "compulsory" on the campus jobs. Similarly the girls' skills can be groomed at school. This could include painting, sewing, embroidery, knitting making baskets, baking, weaving etc. Once they have specialized in any of these skills, they can then be given the opportunity to make things and even sell them.
Higher level education is also very important for the women. Attitudes toward female employment are quite different in the wealthier and in the more upper middle classes. Particularly, highly educated women like teachers and doctors are needed for keeping up gender segregation, and this demand has had a positive influence on the employment of highly educated women in these fields. Due to the compatibility of these professions with gender segregation and the high educational background which they require, they are associated with a high social status, and highly qualified women are still mainly concentrated in these two professions: one quarter of all doctors and one third of all teachers in Pakistan are women (Government of Pakistan 1989b).
Skill development and promotion of the cottage industry
When it comes to creativity and talent, Pakistani women are far ahead of many others. Every individual possesses some talent or the other, the real issue is to identify that talent. Teams from government organizations and Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) need to go to the rural areas and engage those women who are financially constrained but do not have source of income to help them. These teams must take professionals such as designers, tailors, weaving experts, home-economics teachers etc. These professionals may then form groups of women to work with, giving them the guidelines needed.
The group once groomed may then be given targets by their mentor upon whose fulfilment they would be compensated in terms of salary and benefits. This will help the professionals to get the work done in a better way and assist the women in terms of finance. The less skillful women or the educated ones can set up day care facility or even school facility for the children of the other women working in the group. These women can be paid by the association that has set up the group. This is something that a few of the designers are doing now. Just recently Amir Adnan, a notable designer brought women from Dadu for his Fnk Asia collection, showed them the latest trends and their designs. These women were then sent back to Dadu, where they then designed clothes and brought them back to Amir Adnan. According to him the designs that they came up with were highly unique and ethnic.
He now plans to employ women from the Kailash area to design for them. Similarly some time ago, Jemima Khan also employed women to design and embroider clothes, which were then sold in the UK. Thus we have evidence that the women of Pakistan are capable of a lot more than our perception. In this way the women can excel in the business of weaving, embroidery, pottery, packaging, flower growing, forestation, nursery seedlings, beekeeping, rug and carpet making etc. Each village must specialize in one or two of these trades. Just as groups of women in China, Israel and Bangladesh are engaged in the basket making business. With all of us living in a global village, we have the potential to promote the talent of our women across borders, resulting in economic reprieve for the country and the women.
Women and microfinance
Once these women are established and decided on what they 'can' and 'want' to do then the group of women can move towards establishing their business in group form. At this point the role of microfinance will be like that of a catalyst for the women's success. The micro-finance banks should focus on group loans which are better for the banks too in terms of their relatively lower risk as compare to the individual loans. The risk faced by these banks is highly dreaded by them as they are providing non- collateralized loans.
With the group loan, to minimize the risk the method adopted by the pioneer of micro-finance in the world the Grameen Bank is that of the 'joint-collateral'. In this approach if one member of the group fails to repay the loan, none of the group members would be eligible for a loan in the future. With this type of collateral there is effective risk management for the microfinance loans and the women will also work hard and encourage their group members to do so too so that they can all repay the loan' and benefit for loans next time.
Employment in the factories
For the more risk-averse women, who would want to have a job and fixed t monthly income, the factories need to f employ women in their assembly line and packaging. As in China, there are women putting the screws in the bulbs that are coming through the assembly line. Women usually want to work towards 'perfection'; hence they would definitely work towards high performance in such jobs as well. This option could be employment in the factory or payment according to task performed.
Tourism and women
Tourists are being attracted to Pakistan with this year being the ‘Destination Pakistan 2007'. During the peak tourist seasons, the women of the respective areas can form a group and with the assistance of the local government can arrange an exhibition on the pattern of an "expo". In this way the tourists can purchase things and it can serve as promotion of the potential that the women have. Brochures and catalogues with the details of the women's work can be given to the tourists. People from different countries could then get products made by these women in Pakistan.
Campaign to create awareness
Women are not aware of what they are capable of and of the opportunities that exist for them. For this the government and NGOs need to create awareness in the rural areas including the farthest of them all, so as to give the women a ray of hope in terms if finance and independence. This includes media campaign through radio and television, workshops inviting the women and then giving them ideas on how to recognize their potential and cash in on it.
Door to door campaign is also needed in the interior areas of the provinces where the women are not encouraged to move out of their homes. The women need mentors who may encourage them and promote their talent. Since the women need the assistance in terms of finance and knowledge. Specialists from different industries need to come forward and guide the women. This could be women to women contact so that the target women and their families feel comfortable with their exposure.
Similarly microfinance banks also need to enhance their out reach to the people. Very few people know what microfinance is and how they would be eligible for it. Microfinance is the catalyst for the success of the women. We have the example of the Grameen Bank which has changed the lives of many of the Bangladeshi women, thus the microfinance banks in Pakistan can prove very beneficial for the women and improve their out reach too.
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