The founding father of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, was an indefatigable campaigner for women’s rights who advocated for full participation of women in public life and in nationbuilding. In keeping with his vision, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has pledged to ensure the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women as guaranteed in the Constitution of the country. Pakistan was amongst the first group of countries in the United Nations to sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948 and since then has become signatory to seven international human rights treaties out of nine. The Vision 2025 of Pakistan reaffirms the commitment of the Government to promote an enabling environment for women so that they may realize their full potential and be active contributors to the development of the country.
The Punjab Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) acknowledges the efforts of all stakeholders who assisted in the development of the 5th Punjab Gender Parity Report. We want to thank all Federal and Provincial Departments/Institutions (Punjab) and District offices of the government. They have continued to respond to our data requests since 2015, providing us with information that has helped shape this report. We are very grateful to UNFPA for their diligence and technical support, which allowed us to prepare and publish the Punjab Gender Parity Report 2021. We would also like to thank the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) for their generous support, without which the report's completion would not have been possible. We are also thankful to Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO) for their support in compiling this report.
UN Women supports United Nations Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality, and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to implement these standards. It stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on five priority areas: increasing women’s leadership and participation; ending violence against women; engaging women in all aspects of peace and security processes; enhancing women's economic empowerment; and making gender equality central to national development planning and budgeting. UN Women also coordinates and promotes the United Nations system’s work in advancing gender equality.
The National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) organized at two-day conference in Islamabad on ‘Extremism and its Impact on Society: Implications for women’ (on 18-19 August, 2009). The themes of the conference were symbiotic relations between State and Religion, Patriarchy and Extremism, Mobilization of Women for extremist causes and consequences of Extremism. The participants of the conference included Bushhra Gauhar MNA/Chairperson Standing Committee on Women Development, Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Special Assistant to P.M on Social issues various academicians, and civil society activists.