Daily Times

October 15 is celebrated as the International Day of Rural Women. It is recognized by the United Nations. While the day comes annually, the governments of all countries must ensure that their women population – from the rural and urban areas – is living a good life every day. Pakistan, in particular, must create avenues to facilitate the needs of women from rural areas who face continuous hardships. The common man in the rural, far-flung, remote areas is ignorant of life’s necessities. The rural woman needs to be educated about all aspects of life. While the men of rural areas remain to be dominant and control the lives of the women of their house, special emphasis must be given to helping these women educate themselves. Perhaps women from urban areas can visit the rural areas and organize a women-only gathering where the resident women are informed about various aspects of life including education, health, hygiene, etc.

A study titled “Are urban women empowered in Pakistan? A study from a metropolitan city” was conducted by Mr. Sajid Hussain and Mr. Shafiq Jullandhry. According to the survey conducted for this research, it was revealed the two-thirds of the women out of the 260 surveyed were not empowered. It was also recorded through that three areas of women’s empowerment are weak. These include control over resources, mobility, and participation in household decision-making. The researchers, Mr. Hussain and Mr. Jullandhry, also discovered that nearly 49% of these women did not control the spending of their family’s savings. Moreover, nearly 70% to 85% of these women did not have ownership rights in land or house that was a fixed property. Most of these women also were not allowed to participate in the household decisions on family savings and where to invest them. The research also revealed that single women are less empowered than the ones who are married.

The need of the hour is to connect women-centric foundations and organizations, NGOs, and startups working in the metropolitan cities with the women residing in rural areas

Women empowerment can be achieved through a holistic strategy. The tech companies of Pakistan can build avenues in interior parts of the provinces. They can inform women and their husbands or guardians on how to better their lifestyles and livelihoods. NGOs and startups can organize counseling sessions with such households where women are not part of the decision-making process or have no voice.

The government must develop such programs that teach and train the women population of the rural areas with the latest methods employed in the cottage industries, agricultural production, farming, and in managing livestock. Such a setup to instruct and tutor the women can be achieved through a public-private partnership. Special emphasis must be given on how to protect the rights of these women who are subjected to domestic violence or when the underage girls are married off to men thrice their age. Pro-women laws for women must be implemented and monitored by a team of experts. These women can be given basic training on how to use applications on smartphones to build a startup at their home and sell it through these apps. Money transfer is already made convenient by a certain app that has been made available in villages.

The need of the hour is to connect women-centric foundations and organizations, NGOs, and startups working in the metropolitan cities with the women residing in rural areas. These women need guidance about how to lead a healthy life, need awareness on how to raise their children, and need assistance on how to become empowered enough to create their home-based business and make it sustainable. This will not be achieved until the male population continues to create a glass ceiling for the women that may include their mother, sister, or wife. It is imperative to educate the minds of both these genders that will lead to holistic growth and development of the population of these rural areas.

The government in collaboration with private organizations can create awareness hubs in various regions of the interior parts of provinces. These hubs can include counselors, skill development centers, medical clinics, vocational training institutes, and information desks that can impart education, guide the population on various aspects of life, protect women’s rights, and advise women population on how to best use their skill for revenue generation.

The writer is an independent researcher, author and columnist