WOMEN EMPOWERMENT :

Women's empowerment is the process in which women elaborate and recreate what it is that they
can be, do, and accomplish in a circumstance that they previously were denied. Empowerment when
talking about women's empowerment, means accepting and allowing people (women) who are on
the outside of the decision-making process into it.Empowerment is the process that creates power
in individuals over their own lives, society, and in their communities. People are empowered when
they are able to access the opportunities available to them without limitations and restrictions such
as in education, profession and lifestyle. Feeling entitled to make your own decisions creates a sense
of empowerment. Empowerment includes the action of raising the status of women through
education, raising awareness, literacy, and training. Women's empowerment is all about equipping
and allowing women to make life-determining decisions through the different problems in
society.Women's economic empowerment refers to the ability for women to enjoy their right to
control and benefit from the resources, assets, income and their own time, as well as the ability to
manage risk and improve their economic status and well being.

IMPORTANCE OF WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT IN SOCIETIES:

Entire nations, businesses, communities and groups can benefit from the implementation of
programs and policies that adopt the notion of women empowerment. Empowerment of women is a
necessity for the very development of a society, since it enhances both the quality and the quantity
of human resources available for development. Empowerment is one of the main procedural
concerns when addressing human rights and development.

Women's empowerment and achieving gender equality is essential for our society to ensure the
sustainable development of the country. Many world leaders and scholars have argued that
sustainable development is impossible without gender equality and women's empowerment.
Sustainable development accepts environmental protection, social and economic development, and
without women's empowerment, women wouldn't feel equally important to the process of
development as men. It is widely believed that, the full participation of both men and women is
critical for development. Only acknowledging men's participation will not be beneficial to
sustainable development. In the context of women and development, empowerment must include
more choices for women to make on their own.[9] Without gender equality and empowerment, the
country could not be just, and social change wouldn't occur. Therefore, scholars agree that women's
empowerment plays a huge role in development and is one of the significant contributions of
development. Without the equal inclusion of women in development, women would not be able to
benefit or contribute to the development of the country.

PRINCIPLES OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT :

The Women's Empowerment Principles are a set of Principles for business offering guidance on how
to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community.Man and women are one of the
major components of society. Since the formation of the society, there has been discrimination on
how society looks on both the genders. It is through the lens of the society that we build our
conceptions. Women are considered as being inferior to men on the aspect of physical strength and
working capabilities. Although this has been a prejudiced concept still the society moves on with this
thought and idea. Women have always been deprived of certain things which only men get the
liability to enjoy all together. Society decides the role of the women and builds certain parameters in
which it judges and makes the conclusion about women. But with the coming of the modern era, it is
being noticed that women are getting space and opportunities to prove themselves as well.
Westernization has led positive effect on the issues of women and now they are getting
empowerment. In every field, today women are given equal opportunities and space so as to
enhance themselves.

Empowering women to participate fully in economic life across all sectors is essential to build
stronger economies, achieve internationally agreed goals for development and sustainability, and
improve the quality of life for women, men, families and communities. The private sector is a key
partner in efforts to advance gender equality and empower women.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN PAKISTAN :

Women’s empowerment in Pakistan is heavily dependent on many different variables that include
geographical location (urban/rural), educational status, social status, and age. Working women of
Pakistan have always tried to improve the financial stability of their respective households but sadly
their work is always undervalued. Empowering socially, economically, educationally, politically and
legally has always been a difficult task to achieve in an underdeveloped country. Therefore, Pakistani
policymakers should specifically make the policies on women’s empowerment at the national level
for health, education, economic opportunities, gender-based violence, and political participation.

Pakistan’s women development model is very much a work in progress where deep-rooted
challenges remain. The World Economic Forum has placed Pakistan as the second worst country on
gender equality in its 2017 Global Gender Gap Index. The index placed Pakistan 143rd out of 144
countries, worst in the South Asian region. Bangladesh, ranked at 47, is the only country in the
region to have made the top 50 whereas India is at 108 after dropping 21 notches compared to its
previous position. The Maldives ranked 106, Sri Lanka 109, Nepal 111 and Bhutan 143.This is a
dangerous state of affairs for our society. Denying women opportunities to realize their potential is a
waste of human capital and bar to economic progress. Women have played a key role in the creation
of Pakistan, they have the potential and should be treated equally and fairly. The Women, Peace and
Security Index ranks Pakistan as 4th amongst the countries termed worst for women in terms of
their peace, security, inclusion, and justice.

10 PAKISTANI WOMEN WHO MADE US PROUD BY DOING WORK IN DIFFERENT FIELDS

FROM 2015-16:

1. Syeda Ghulam Fatima

In September 2015, labour rights activist Syeda Ghulam Fatima, general secretary of the Bonded
Labour Liberation Front Pakistan (BLLF), was presented with the Clinton Global Citizen Award 2015
for leadership in civil society.

She works for the betterment of bonded labour in Pakistan and is known for advocating compliance
of International Labour Organisation’s key labour standards in Pakistan.

2. Marium Mukhtar
Although the 24-year-old Flying Officer was martyred when her training aircraft crashed near
Mianwali in November, Marium will always be remembered as the first lady pilot of the Pakistan Air
Force (PAF) to attain the great honour.
3. Muniba Mazari
In December, the artist-activist-writer, was named Pakistan’s first female Goodwill Ambassador by
the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
In a tweet, Mazari said, “We need to educate both men and women that if we empower one
woman, we empower whole generation!”

4. Samya Arif
The taxi that the Pakistani artist had designed last Independence Day for the Taxi Fabric initiative by
Sanket Alvani was featured in Coldplay’s video Hymn For The Weekend in January.
Not only that, the Indus Valley School graduate designed a vinyl sleeve for Australian band Tame
Impala which was showcased at Sono Studio in London.

5. Dr Nergis Mavalvala
In February, Pakistan-born astrophysicist played a part in discovery of gravitational waves.

Professor Mavalvala worked with researchers at the US-based underground detectors Laser
Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) Laboratory to build sophisticated sensors to
detect gravitational ripples created from the collision of two black holes some 1.3 billion years ago
and had been hurtling through space to reach Earth on September 14, 2015.

The detection confirmed a major prediction of Albert Einstein’s 1915 general theory of relativity and
opens an unprecedented new window onto the cosmos.

6. Fiza Farhan
The CEO of Buksh Foundation and director of Buksh Energy was elected as a member of the first-
ever High-Level Panel of the UN Secretary-General on Women’s Economic Empowerment in
February.
She was also part of the ’30 under 30’ list by Forbes magazine for Social Entrepreneurs in 2015.

7. Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy

On February 28, 2016, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy became the first Pakistani to win two Oscar awards.

Sharmeen won in the Best Documentary Short Subject for A Girl In The River: The Price of
Forgiveness in the 88th Academy awards. The documentary which sheds light on honour killings in
Pakistan follows the story of a teenage girl shot in the face by her own family.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed to end honour killings following her win.

8. Rukhsana Parveen and Sofia Javed

Rukhsana and Sofia became the first Pakistani women to bag international medals in boxing at the
2016 South Asian Games in Shillong in February.

9. Minhal Sohail
The 21-year-old became Pakistan’s first female shooter to compete at Olympics 2016. Although, she
couldn’t win gold and secured 28th position in the 10m air rifle event, Minhal has made us proud by
qualifying for the Rio Games.
10. Ikra Saleem Khan
Ikra Saleem Khan, a student of University College Lahore, came out on top at the University of
London LLB examinations, scoring the highest aggregate marks this year.