UNDP GENDER PROGRAMME IN PAKISTAN

Background
Gender, together with Governance and Sustainable Livelihoods, is an area of programmatic focus as reflected in paragraphs 22-25 of the CCF. Gender disparities in Pakistan are severe and pervasive. Deeply rooted cultural and institutional constraints prevent Pakistani women from playing a fulfilling role in the development of their society. Their presence in the public sphere is condemned under the guise of cultural and religious values, thus, making their contribution outside the home difficult, if not impossible. Institutionalized violence against women in Pakistan allows crimes of 'passion' and 'honor' to go unpunished and has become, in the past two decades, one of the biggest constraints to widening their role in the public domain.
In order to address the gender disparities in Pakistan, the Gender programme will focus on the Economic Empowerment, Social Empowerment and Political Empowerment of women. These three themes are anchored in the Government's two key policy statements: the National Report of Pakistan (NATREP) prepared for the Beijing Conference and the Platform For Action (PFA), which resulted from the Conference and has since been formally endorsed by the Government.

Objectives
The development objective of the Gender programme is for the women of Pakistan to become economically, socially and politically empowered and begin the transformation of gender relations to effectively achieve Sustainable Human Development. The empowerment of a woman is a two-fold process. First, the process of increasing awareness of her potential, capacities and rights, which includes an understanding of her own social conditioning. Second, working towards an environment of democratic principles which allows her to participate actively and equitably in all spheres of life. This would result in enlarging her choices and transforming gender relationships. It is evident, however, that the objectives of this programme cannot be achieved in isolation. Women's relationships with men in society are a significant determinant of their status. Women's issues under the Gender programme will therefore be seen in the context of Women's relationships with men and their position in the family and community.

Strategy
The main elements of the Gender programme strategy are as follows:
The Programme is concerned about changing the position of women in social, economic and political lives and not merely the condition of women. It is therefore both a process and an outcome. There is a strong emphasis on the interfaces of Gender issues with other SHD priority themes of eradicating poverty, providing jobs, protecting the environment and governance. Almost all the components of the Gender programme have direct and close links with the institutional reforms envisioned under the Governance programme of UNDP.
The programme perceives women as agents of change rather than mere beneficiaries. In addition, a gender programme in Pakistan has to be based on local experience. In so doing, the programme emphasizes the need for communities of women and men to work together in taking charge of their own lives and creating opportunities for themselves. Hence developing the capacity of civil society organizations is critical.
Gender equity would not be attained even if poverty were eliminated totally. The development of a broader framework for Gender in UNDP Programming needs to look beyond eradicating economic poverty as its sole purpose.
Traditionally, donor funded gender projects are placed with the Ministry of Women's Development. The Gender Programme, however, aims to support the mainstreaming of gender issues in the Government by undertaking joint initiatives with various line ministries. The Programme is already working with the Department of Transport, the Election Commission and the Economic Affairs Division of the Ministry of Finance. Other projects are being planned with the Department of Manpower and Labor, the Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Police Department.
The Programme has been developed through a structured participatory process. The Project Cycle Management (PCM) Approach will continue to be followed at each stage of the project. Linkages with government agencies, civil society and the private sector will be strongly encouraged.
In addition to the above, the programme will have multi-dimensional aspects where combinations of policy intervention, on-the-ground activities, and institutional support in a holistic manner, will increase the impact of UNDP assistance.
As a by-product, the breakthrough nature of the programme is expected to have a marked impact on UNDP Pakistan itself.

Expected Outcomes
The Gender programme has already made significant progress. A Gender Unit has been established. Four Preparatory Assistance (PA) projects, namely, Facilitating Women's Mobility, Women in Urban Credit, Supporting the Democratic Electoral Process in Pakistan and Gender Programme Support have been approved. One PA, Portrayal of Women in Media, and a pilot project, Enterprise Development of Rural Women are in the hard pipeline.
It is expected, in the long run, that gender disparities in Pakistan will have been measurably reduced. Women, in general, will have more access to, and control over, means of production and be more visible in decision-making positions, including in business and government. Women and women's issues will be more accurately represented in the media. More civil society organizations will be working on women's issues with enhanced capacities. The financial allocations in the line agencies for specific services and programmes for women will increase. Women's economic contributions will be reflected in the national statistics. Women will be more generally visible in the public domain at large. They will have more access to support services necessary to enlarge their choices in life.
During the period of the CCF, the UNDP Gender programme expects to achieve the following outcomes:
National capacities including the capacity of government officials, private sector and civil society developed to address gender issues in the context of Pakistan. For example, an increased number of trained media professionals, entrepreneurs and community leaders.
Government officials, politicians and community leaders gender-sensitized to increase efforts in
incorporating women into mainstream, high level decision making fora.
Policy makers, donors and other decision makers made aware of the strategic gender interventions for effective change in Pakistani society. This includes focus on strategic needs of women such as mobility and control over resources, as well as focusing on men's issues.
Affirmative policy and institutional support for women to access credit, to participate in mainstream politics and to be portrayed in media positively in place.
Institutions such as village organizations, NGOS, women's cooperatives, and credit institutions strengthened to develop partnerships with each other and increase access to micro-credit.
Work on developing success indicators for the programme and the subsidiary projects has been undertaken in a participatory manner, involving all relevant stakeholders and communities. Baseline studies for the projects are being initiated.

source: un.org.pk