ISLAMABAD – The Minister of State for Finance and Revenue, Dr Aisha Ghous Pasha on Friday appreciated and acknowledged the role of UN Women in Pakistan and gave her full support to the current government.
The Minister of State held a meeting with a UN Women delegation led by Country Representative Sharmeela Rasool in the Finance Division. Nobuyuka Imamura, a specialist in Asian financial markets, and other senior finance division executives attended the meeting.
The delegate gave a brief overview of UN Women’s five-year plan in Pakistan. It was reported that UN Women was working at multiple levels to promote gender equality through the empowerment of women in all segments of society in Pakistan. A number of gender-responsive plans and policies have been designed in consultation with various stakeholders in Pakistan to create an enabling and enabling environment for girls and women in Pakistan to realize their full potential.
Issues relating to women’s economic empowerment in Pakistan were discussed. He was informed that UN Women is working on how to give women in Pakistan more access to financial and capital markets, especially SMEs. The country representative informed that UN Women was compiling a report on the status of women in Pakistan which will be ready by the end of this year.
The delegation informed the Minister of State of the problems encountered in controlling population growth in the country. With a significantly high population growth of 2.4%, investing in sustainable population growth has become imperative for the government. The delegate proposed the creation of a special fund for the population to manage the unequal progress between the provinces and to improve the rate of savings and growth. The delegation further informed that international institutions such as the World Bank and AfDB are keen to invest in Pakistan in the area of population policy, so proposals could be made to these institutions for their support.