Greater visibility
PAKISTAN ranks only above Iraq and Yemen in the Global Gender Report 2020. Yet the long-discriminated-against Pakistani woman has made much overlooked progress. Conditions are terrible for her but trends,…
Post-Covid pandemic
THE Covid-19 pandemic may have spared many women from directly getting infected, but in many ways it has exacerbated the impact on their sexual and reproductive health. Giving birth already…
Family planning in Sindh
The ever-increasing population has been a major challenge for Pakistan for at least 50 years. When East and West Pakistan separated in 1971, the population of East Pakistan was around…
Domestic violence during Covid-19
Ten am to twelve noon was her time. The children had been bundled into the Suzuki pickup off to school, her husband had left for his tailoring shop and she…
Welfare not equality
SOME critical opinions have been offered on the government’s recently launched Ehsas poverty alleviation programme. Afshan Subohi has questions about the sources of funding for such a large-scale programme in…
Talking empowerment
First a few elementary statistics on gender inequality in Pakistan: according to the Global Gender Gap Index Report 2018, launched in October last year; Pakistan ranks at 148th position out…
Economic reforms: Part – XXVIII
We now turn to the subject of population welfare to complete our coverage of social sectors. Nothing is more critical for long term economic and social stability of Pakistan than…
Vaccination crisis
When it comes to immunization, Pakistan has two very different reputations. On the one hand it is known for its heroic Lady Health Workers (LHWs), the 100,000 women who have…
Contract work woes
INCREASING the prevalence of contract work in the labour market is a global phenomenon. Low production cost and increase in productivity — the reasons cited by economists for contract labour…
Cultural gap
For the state, NGOs, donor agencies and multilateral institutions, culture is a segregated affair, perceived as a ‘set of things’ requiring sectoral interventions as in music, the arts and literature.…
