Aga Khan Foundation Canada

Published purpose

This project aims to reduce social, cultural and institutional barriers to women’s engagement in economic and social spheres in Pakistan. It seeks to create an enabling environment that supports women’s economic recovery and success in a coronavirus (COVID-19) context. The project will also address the dimensions of unpaid care and care-related work. Project activities include: (1) engaging with leaders, employers, civil society, families and the legislature to increase acceptance and challenge gender norms around women in the workplace in Pakistan; (2) seeking to ensure the legislative frameworks that protect women in public spaces are well understood, accepted and enforced; and (3) enhancing the social and economic agency of women in the Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan regions of (Northern Pakistan) by providing new skills, entrepreneurial and business-incubation training opportunities, plus leadership and confidence-building initiatives.