Supporting Women’s Access to More and Better Jobs in Pakistan

In Pakistan, the female labor force participation rate is only 24 percent. To improve women’s employment opportunities in the country, IFC partnered with the advocacy group Pakistan Business Council to showcase how companies can tap into a large and underutilized pool of female talent. The objective was to help reduce Pakistan’s gender gap in employment, maintain a pipeline of future female leaders, and contribute to the growth of Pakistan’s economy.

Through this partnership, IFC and PBC produced a series of webinars on the business case for women’s employment, tackling childcare, and effective anti-sexual harassment mechanisms. They also organized an International Women’s Day conference in March 2018 where companies made pledges to foster workforce gender diversity. Moreover, IFC and PBC delivered Pakistan’s first women on boards training and led a media campaign to raise awareness on the importance of boosting women’s employment.

At an event in Karachi on December 17, 2018, IFC launched five case studies to showcase how companies are making efforts to better include women across their workforce. The event, which marked the conclusion of the partnership with PBC, also featured Employer of Choice for Gender Balance Awards 2018 in which three Pakistani companies were recognized for their efforts to advance gender diversity.