Daily Times

For the past two years, I have been residing in my village, in Lodhran, working towards the welfare of women promoting their different talents, such as hand embroidery and pottery for their economic empowerment in a way to secure their livelihoods and rights.

We have built a skill training centre, a community organization, Made in Alipur, where women are trained in embroidery, pottery and sewing. I’ve also been introducing them to the idea of online stores; allowing them to sell their products well and access to a platform where they can learn to have access to modern technology.

Women comprise approximately half of the total population of Pakistan. The majority of women live in rural areas. They are mainly engaged in farming, fisheries, livestock and management, mostly as unpaid contributing family workers or on very low wages.

Our Rural Women earn lower wages as seasonal hands than their male counterparts. Yet they experience greater workloads that include reproductive work, fetching water and fuel, along with care work. They own less land and have inadequate access to agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizers or labour-saving machines and equipment. Their property right is often challenged and even when they own property, they may not control it.

Distribution of state land to women farmers would go a long way in ensuring food security for landless farmers.

Women do most of their labour as unpaid family workers in agriculture. Indeed girls’ attendance in school drops to a low during harvest season. They contribute to care work at home, looking after the young and the ill, and stepping in for the mother if she is pregnant, nursing or sick. When there is much unpaid labour to be done, education is a luxury for a young daughter. This is not to say that social norms or parental reluctance are the reasons for low enrolment and high dropouts of girls. Equally and even more responsible is the State. The quality of education is poor, even for rural households. Infrastructure Investments have improved, but too many rural schools are one-room institutions with several age groups and classes sitting in an overcrowded spaces or under the open sky. There is no source of adequate water and sanitation facilities or electricity. Above all, teacher absenteeism, low motivation and competencies mar the school experience of rural girls.

Provincial Governments should initiate job-oriented diplomas for rural females who do not continue in school after middle or matric. Skills training should align with the work of rural women in agriculture and livestock, as well as the needs of the non-agricultural rural economy.

The Government must ensure that, as small producers, women have equal rights to access and control productive resources such as land, seed, water, and forests. Distribution of state land to women farmers would go a long way in ensuring food security for landless farmers, provided the land is cultivable and the land grant is accompanied by a resource package.

Harassment and violence against women, whether in the home, workplace or in public spaces need to be addressed beyond the passage of laws so that women and their families do not forego opportunities for social, economic and political participation and growth. Rural women have less access to technologies, and public services and little if any, social protection and are more likely to experience gender-based violence.

Periods are a huge taboo in rural areas. Menstruation has deliberately been withheld from women as a “means of protecting their chastity”.This in turn negatively impacts their physical and emotional health. Traditionally women have used rags and cloth to soak up their menstrual blood here, but the stigma around periods and a lack of reproductive education mean hygiene standards are poor and many contracted infections. In addition, female family members often shared the same menstrual rags, increasing the risk of contracting urinary and reproductive tract infections. There is no sex education in schools and the topic is rarely discussed even between women at home. Many women are still made to feel uneasy by leering at shopkeepers and asking their husbands to buy them instead. The women of Alipur are grateful to Khair for providing them with sanitary napkins. They are being educated regarding menstrual health and learning how to make their sanitary napkins. We see so many more confident now.

I found severe poverty in my district. Women were distressed, struggling to make ends meet. Their husbands are away from home most days to search for work, even then, however, some days they do not have enough money to put food on their tables. Made in Alipur has Started to benefit many already Shazia is one of them. She joined the team a few months ago, her husband is very sick for the past few years. It was getting difficult for her to manage the household with 4

2 daughters and 4 sons (all under 18 years)to take care “My situation has improved drastically. I now make a healthy profit from sewing and embroidering clothes – which is enough for me to run my household. I feel completely at peace now, I feel happier and secure” says Faiz Bibi.

Furthermore, the women of Alipur have collaborated with local brands such as Lama and By The Way. These women are so talented and hardworking that they do some great work which needs recognition and appreciation. It is a pleasure to see them work with so much commitment and love. This collaboration with renowned brands has got them the confidence and happiness they truly deserve. As a community, we all need to make an effort to help and support our rural women if we want to prosper as a successful nation.

The writer is a community leader striving for the welfare and empowerment of rural women.