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.
The consultation was chaired and addressed by NCSW Chairperson Ume Laila Azhar, who emphasized the need to move beyond symbolic commitments and ensure substantive gender equality, dignity at work, and effective access to remedy for women across Pakistan’s private sector.
Addressing participants, the Chairperson said Karachi, as Pakistan’s economic hub and a major centre of private employment, was a strategic starting point for dialogue aimed at bridging the gap between existing legal frameworks and the lived workplace realities faced by women in both formal and informal sectors.
She noted that the consultation was grounded in a gender-responsive and gender-transformative approach, aligned with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and Pakistan’s National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAP-BHR), with a particular focus on accountability, access to justice, and effective grievance redress mechanisms.
Ume Laila Azhar highlighted that despite the presence of laws and policies addressing workplace discrimination, harassment, and labour rights, women continue to face systemic barriers related to recruitment, equal pay, job security, workplace safety, career progression, and access to remedies. She identified weak implementation, limited institutional coordination, and power imbalances as key challenges requiring collective action.
The multi-stakeholder consultation brought together representatives from the private sector, banking and financial institutions, textiles and garments industry, manufacturing units, beauty salons and service industries, home-based workers, relevant government departments, civil society organisations, women’s rights groups, researchers, and development partners.
During sector-specific group discussions, participants shared practical, experience-based insights into gender inequality across workplaces and institutions. The discussions generated actionable recommendations focusing on strengthening workplace policies and organisational culture, ensuring pay equity and non-discriminatory recruitment, improving workplace safety and protection from harassment, establishing effective grievance mechanisms, and addressing the vulnerabilities of women engaged in informal, outsourced, and home-based work.
Reaffirming NCSW’s statutory mandate, the Chairperson said the Commission would continue to monitor gender equality, advocate policy reforms, and strengthen accountability mechanisms, stressing that gender equality is not only a social obligation but also essential for sustainable economic growth and social justice.
The findings and recommendations from the Karachi consultation will feed into NCSW’s Annual Gender Equality in the Private Sector Report, which aims to support evidence-based policymaking and promote gender-responsive business practices nationwide.
NCSW also announced that the Karachi consultation is part of a broader provincial consultation process, with upcoming consultations planned in Peshawar, Lahore, and Quetta, to inform national-level policy advocacy and strengthen Pakistan’s commitments under international human rights and business standards.
