Somewhere between the policy tables and the polling booths, women’s empowerment has lost its way. The one initiative that promised women would make up 45% of the workforce by 2025 sounds bold on paper, forgotten in practice. The promise of increasing women’s participation in the workforce seemed like a refreshing rain in a drought, signalling hope and renewal.
As the 2025 deadline looms, the gap between words and reality has only widened. However, fear not, our government has it all figured out! Simply assign the blame to “cultural barriers” and unveil yet another initiative. Unfortunately, just like the previous ones, the initiatives will never see the light of day. A new plan, a new promise, same old ending. Oh, Pakistan, where every speech is a grand promise, and these pledges are collecting dust in the government’s office. Do you recall the ambitious target set a few years back? Of course!
Consider the barriers: firmly ingrained patriarchal norms, restricted mobility, limited access to education and unsafe work surroundings. These are just a handful of problems that hold women back from entering the labour force, let alone securing stable jobs. Should Pakistan hope to quadruple its proportion of working women when the majority of the country still considers basic needs like safe public transport to be a luxury? It seems like the target was more of a lofty goal established for publicity than for real implementation.
How long can we ignore the silent crisis of vulnerability that engulfs 70% of our working women?
Despite repeated political promises and policy frameworks, Pakistan continues to fall short in translating gender empowerment rhetoric into tangible workplace reforms. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, women make up less than 25% of the labour force, a figure that has stagnated for years despite population growth and increasing education rates among women.
Structural barriers such as a lack of childcare facilities, inadequate maternity leave, and unsafe commuting conditions continue to discourage female participation. Even when women enter the workforce, they often find themselves confined to low-paying, low-security roles in the informal economy. These systemic inequalities reveal that empowerment cannot thrive on slogans alone; it requires deep-rooted institutional reform and genuine social will.
“For Pakistan, improving women’s access to employment opportunities could reduce poverty rates by as much as 10%. It is not merely an economic imperative but a path to sustainable development,” as stated by the former World Bank economist Asad Aslam. The inability to increase women in the workforce is more than just a missed target. The latest report from the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) delivers a wake-up call that is impossible to ignore. It reveals that 70% of women in Pakistan are stuck in vulnerable jobs.
Women are doomed to failure by a culture that wants them to work but does not demand improved working conditions
Pakistan is essentially holding down the brakes of its own progress by marginalising women and keeping them in positions that do not provide opportunities for advancement. It is like attempting to navigate a ship without paying attention to half of the sails; the winds of change will never propel you ahead.
Because a country that refuses to value half of its people is like a bird trying to fly with one wing, no matter how hard it flaps, it will never soar.
As a female entrepreneur in Karachi lamented, “They tell us to be self-sufficient, but when we apply for support, we get tangled in red tape.” It is a cruel irony that the very system claiming to empower women is the one that stifles their potential. It is about time to stop using “culture” as a catch-all for broken systems. Rather, we should try and focus on taking concrete measures like increasing workplace security, providing flexible working hours and offering affordable childcare facilities. These are not luxuries; they are necessities if we want to see more women in the workforce.
The choice is stark: harness the strength of women or watch potential prosperity slip through our fingers.
It is not that the problem has not been acknowledged; governments have spoken about the significance of women’s involvement in labour. We have attended numerous seminars on the subject, read extensive policy documents, and heard grand speeches; however, the pace of real implementation has been excruciatingly sluggish. Consider this highly publicised proposal from the Women’s Economic Empowerment Package: “The proposal pledged to assist female entrepreneurs and provide initiatives for skill training. But after two years, the effect has been little. Many of these trainings are underfunded, and the funds meant to support women-owned companies have become a nightmare of red tape.”
It is like planning to build a bridge without laying down the foundation; no matter how beautiful the design, it is destined to collapse.
A society’s progress is measured not by the promises it makes but by the opportunities it sustains
The disconnect between policy design and ground realities exposes a deeper flaw in the system, a lack of sustained political commitment and accountability. Initiatives often begin with enthusiasm but fade as soon as media attention wanes or governments change. Instead of creating lasting institutional mechanisms, each new administration prefers to launch its own “signature” programmes, abandoning previous efforts midstream.
As a result, working women are left navigating the same bureaucratic maze year after year, with little structural support to show for all the lofty promises. True empowerment demands continuity, transparency, and measurable outcomes, not temporary campaigns that look good on paper but vanish in practice.
Consider education: although there are more girls attending school than ever before, there is still a clear gender disparity in secondary and tertiary education. If young women are unable to learn and polish the highly demanded market skills, they may be forced to accept low-wage and low-skill positions. What about harassment at work? Even with regulations such as the Protection Against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, there is still inconsistent enforcement. Many women decide not to report harassment since doing so might result in more victimisation, and they would prefer not to take the chance of losing their employment or receiving negative publicity.
Women are doomed to failure by a culture that wants them to work but does not demand improved working conditions. The question is, are we willing to see them, or will we continue to chase shadows?
Above all, it is time to stop making excuses. The public and commercial sectors must fulfil their commitments if they truly hope to see Pakistan flourish. Human rights advocate Malala Yousafzai famously said, “We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.” It is time to go forward and cease holding back.
Ambitious targets are meaningless when they are not backed by action. Setting goals without a roadmap is like planting seeds in barren soil and expecting a lush harvest. For Pakistan to move beyond tokenism, empowering working women must become a national priority rather than a political talking point. This means not just enacting gender-friendly legislation but ensuring its enforcement, strengthening support systems such as childcare and transport, and transforming workplace cultures that perpetuate bias.
A society’s progress is measured not by the promises it makes but by the opportunities it sustains. Until Pakistan bridges the divide between intention and action, the promise of empowerment for working women will remain unfulfilled, a headline repeated, but never realised.