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ADB Supporting Implementation of Pakistan's Gender Reform Action Plans

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (22 July 2005) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will help the Government of Pakistan implement gender-related reforms to improve the status of women in the country, through a technical assistance (TA) grant package amounting to US$4.57 million. [ PDF ]

The TA is partly financed by $100,000 from ADB's TA funding program and $800,000 from ADB's Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund, from the Government of the United Kingdom. The Government of Canada, through the Canadian International Development Agency, will cofinance $3,665,000 of the cost.

The assistance will strengthen the implementation and integration of the Government's commitments to gender policy reform in poverty reduction and governance reform programs and projects.

Despite these commitments, which are contained in gender reform action plans prepared with ADB assistance in 2002, [ PDF ] women in Pakistan generally endure poor status.

Oppressive laws imperil their legal status. Domestic violence is said to take place in about 80% of the country's households, and 70% of women entering police stations report that they are subjected to sexual and physical violence. Child sexual abuse, kidnapping, prostitution and trafficking, and bonded and hazardous child labor are commonplace.

"Abuse occurs not just because of inadequate legal provisions, but mainly because implementation of the law tends to take the path of least resistance, and favors the powerful over the weak," says Douglas Porter, a Principal Governance Specialist at ADB's Resident Mission in Pakistan.

The exclusion of women from political and administrative governance structures is also strongly linked to high poverty incidence. Despite women's participation in political processes - with 33% of local government seats reserved for women - women are seldom appointed to decision-making positions.

Only 5.4% of all civil servants are women, and in the federal government, a small number of women occupy high grade posts. No woman serves at the Supreme Court, and there is only one woman high court judge. In the subordinate judiciary, only 6% are women.

This male bias in state institutions translates into under-investment in social and economic entitlements and public policies for women, and reinforces the higher incidence of poverty and powerlessness among women.

"Gender poverty remains largely hidden, but it is increasingly evident that poverty is feminized; women bear a disproportionately high share of the burden of poverty," says Mr. Porter.

The TA will support government's efforts to ensure that the gender reform action plans are implemented in a flexible and politically and technically sustainable manner.

It will help integrate the plans into devolution, judicial, and provincial reform programs for public resource management, and support the implementation of these plans through special-purpose, targeted activities of limited duration. Policy dialogue through conferences and workshops with stakeholders will also be supported.

The TA will also help ensure the effectiveness of ADB programs targeted toward gender and governance reforms, such as the Decentralization Support Program and Access to Justice Program. [ PDF ]

The total cost of the TA is estimated at $5.6 million, of which the Government will contribute $1,115,000 equivalent. The Ministry of Finance is the executing agency for the TA, which will be carried out over three years to May 2008.

The Asian Development Bank is dedicated to reducing poverty in the Asia and Pacific region through pro-poor sustainable economic growth, social development, and good governance. Established in 1966, it is owned by 63 members, with 45 from the region. In 2004, it approved loans and technical assistance totaling $5.3 billion and $196.6 million, respectively.

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