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The status of women
 
Working to improve the status of women in Pakistan is one of the four priority areas of governance work that the British Council undertakes in Pakistan. Below are some examples of our work in this area. Gender Equality Project

Women at Work

Aimed at challenging preconceptions about women's role in Pakistani society, the British Council is currently working with the Indus Valley School of Art, Karachi to develop a series of posters demonstrating the wide range of professions in which women successfully work in Pakistan.

Co-funded by the British High Commission, the poster series will increase public awareness of the positive contributions that Pakistani women make in less ‘traditionally’ female professions -- as engineers, judges, pilots, taxi drivers, politicians, etc. The photographer will capture images demonstrating that women are often in positions of control in their work environments and in which they have line-management responsibility for the work of men as well as women.

The poster series will be launched via exhibitions at British Council offices and other venues around the country later this year. They will then be distributed to selected schools, colleges, NGOs, women organisations and government institutions.

Empowerment through Literacy 1996-2001

The British Council has worked in partnership with the British High Commission, Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID), Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) and the European Community to help Anjuman Khuddam-e-Rasool Allah (AKRA), an NGO based in Shergarh Village of district Okara, Pakistan, to launch a Girls Primary Education Project. This exciting new initiative in community education began in April 1996 and is expected to run for five years.

Two British volunteer teacher trainers have already completed their two-year stint and have now been replaced by another volunteer couple who is also teacher trainers.

The project has completed the establishment of a Teachers Training Centre which has enabled AKRA to train 84 women teachers since the start of the project. Twenty-one community-run schools have been established; 1,397 students are enrolled in these schools, which are based in the village mosques or private houses. Schools are expected to be self-sustaining through student fees.

A nine-month adult literacy course has also been introduced which has 150 women enrolled in it.

Women’s International Day

Across Pakistan on 8 March the British Council will be celebrating International Women’s Day with exhibitions of books, videos and posters. The exhibitions will be on display until 11 March.

In Lahore, a panel presentation, ‘Through Women's Eyes’ is being organised in collaboration with Kinnaird College for Women. The seminar will be held at 12:30 p.m. at Hladia Hall in Kinnaird College, Lahore and will last for approximately 90 minutes followed by refreshments.

Women and Children in Jail

In October 1999 the British Council Karachi hosted a week-long exhibition to raise awareness of the condition of women and children in prison. Drawing on the work of 19 students from the Communication Design Department of the Indus Valley School of Arts, Karachi the exhibition included posters, photographs, installations and sculptures. The exhibition was opened by Rashida Patel, chief of the Pakistan Women Lawyers Association (PAWLA). In her address Ms Patel highlighted the need for reform to speed up the processing of cases and for justice without delay.

Advocacy, Leadership and Assertiveness Skills Training Workshop at ASR Institute of Women Studies, Lahore March-April 1999

ASR and the British Council jointly organised a workshop on Advocacy, Leadership and Assertiveness Skills from March 31 to April 2 1999. Twenty-five women from all over Pakistan participated in the training. The aim of the workshop was to make them aware of the implications of internal and external conflicts and their impact on women.

Intra-nation or inter-nation conflicts have serious implications for the people caught in the conflict affected region. Women become victims of these conflicts as members of the community, as family members and as victims of specific violence. Rape, among others, is a very commonly used weapon of violence against women.

The workshop addressed this issue in terms of awareness raising and also specifically had components on advocacy skills, leadership and assertiveness so that women acquire the confidence to become leaders of the larger movement for peace.

If you'd like to know more about our governance work in Pakistan, please contact Arshed.Bhatti@britishcouncil.org.pk.

For information on the British Council's global policy in this field take a look at our main site.

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