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Paving Way for Economic Empowerment

By J. Enver | April 2021

sajida-jaffer

Last year a report published by the World Economic Forum, the Global Gender Gap Index 2020, ranked Pakistan amongst the last three countries in gender gap.

The listing has been published by WEF consecutively every year, and it scores countries on parameters of economic participation, education, health and political empowerment. Interestingly, Pakistan’s ranking dropped from 112 in 2006 to 151 in 2020, slipping multiple points in each of the matrixes to score this rating.

It pointed out that economic opportunities in Pakistan were scarce with the country trying to bridge 32.7 percent of the gap between men and women.

The report is indicative of the stark reality in Pakistan and while the debate is ongoing with respect to increasing women in the workforce, a lot needs to be done at the policy level to bring a paradigm shift in mindset and approach.

But there are also positive changes that are taking place in urban areas, and with the advent of ride hailing apps, commute, which used to be one of the major hurdles that women used to face, has been resolved to a great extent.

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Although this is the case in urban areas, where young women are slowly and steadily increasing in the workforce, the rural areas of Pakistan pose a totally different picture.There are approximately 65 million women living in rural areas of the country. Traditionally, these women are part of the workforce but often as unpaid workers engaged in family farming on agricultural lands, or managing the livestock. Despite their productivity and contribution, rural women in Pakistan have very little access to technologies and public services such as health, education, training, transport and financial inclusion.

In a nutshell, their lack of financial emancipation has a negative impact on the socio-economic fabric of the region.

waqar-ahmadRecognizing a need to emancipate rural women, Benazir Income Support Program was launched by the government back in 2008. Considered to be the largest single social safety net initiative in the country, BISP is an ‘unconditional cash transfer poverty reduction program’ that gives beneficiaries quarterly aid of approximately PKR 6,000 or USD 37 to ensure that no woman is left in a position where they cannot make ends meet.

But in 2017, the private sector stepped up and partnered with BISP to lay the ground for a landmark initiative that actually made women empowerment come full circle. Nestlé Pakistan’s partnership with BISP, and the launch of Nestlé-BISP Rural Women Sales Program, now part of Ehsaas, was a groundbreaking initiative that has been lauded globally, and recognized for its impact by organisations such as the World Bank.

The collaboration is in line with multiple UN SDGs; SDG3 - Good Health & Wellbeing, SDG5 - Gender Equality, SDG8 - Decent Work & Employment and SDG17 - Partnership for Goals.

“The main premise behind this initiative was to work towards the upliftment of rural women in Pakistan and put them on the path to prosperity,” says Waqar Ahmad, who heads the corporate affairs and sustainability function at Nestlé Pakistan.

Waqar is of the view that there is no ‘magic bullet to women empowerment’, and “central to this tenet is the acknowledgment that long-term prosperity is only possible when women are provided a level-playing field to achieve their potential.”

Tracing back to the inception of this program, Waqar shares how Nestlé, in line with its global ambitions, chalked out this program keeping in mind that women needed to graduate out of poverty for economic empowerment.

“It was piloted in Renala initially and then we moved on to Pindi Bhattian, Sheikhupura and Hafizabad later,” says Fatima Akhtar, who leads the project at Nestlé.

Under the initiative, Nestlé has imparted sales and nutrition training, and enrolled over 1500 BISP beneficiaries as Rural Sales Agents, most of whom are earning a livelihood by getting into the business of retail, paving the way for economic empowerment.

“It is not just about the cash itself or the asset but the process of economic and social empowerment,” she says, adding that this program shows that economic empowerment leads to wider social empowerment.

Earlier, Nestlé also partnered with Akhuwat, one of the world’s largest interest-free microfinance programs, to improve access to finance for these beneficiaries.

The program by Nestlé and BISP, is a trendsetter for various other corporate sector entities working deeply in rural areas of the country.

Successive governments in Pakistan, have recognized and acknowledged the significant economic contributions that women make. Although as per UN statistics, Pakistan has adopted a number of key international commitments to gender equality and women’s human rights, its ranking still remains one of the lowest in the world. It is only through innovative programs such as these, that women will slowly come under the fold and become financially independent and equal.

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