China is famous in the world for its remarkable transformative story in the history of the world’s economic affairs. The economic progress and development China witnessed in the late 20th and early 21st century is considered a miracle in itself. The rapid economic growth exhibited by China wasn’t only due to its political and structural strength but the social and cultural components also played a significant role. One of the most striking feature of the Chinese economic development program was its inclusivity for women. It seems like China realized the need for gender equality far before the rest of the world, and is now reaping its fruit in the form of its matchless economic, social and cultural development. The first step China took was to encourage its women to act as the economic motor of the country. This was done by bringing wholesome structural, legislative and normative changes in the system. Firstly, the Chinese transformed the family and marriage system. There are no two opinions on the fact that home is where women can become empowered first to be able to move out in the public space and achieve growth and success. China, introduced introduced policies like the new marriage law- which forbade arranged and forced marriages – and shifted the focus away from the dominance of men and onto the interests of children and women. China also banned the traditions of polygamy, gave individuals the right to divorce, made compulsory the act of family planning, and forbade mercenary marriages in which a bride price or dowry is paid. The second important step taken by the Chinese was the implementation of one child policy, which allowed each married couple to bear only one child except in the case of special circumstances. The policy didn’t only help China in taming the ticking bomb of population surge, but also helped in ensuring and securing the health and productivity of the Chinese women. Moreover, having less children allowed Chinese women to focus on world...

A news item concerning WCCKP shared the establishment of an advisory unit on International Women’s Day 2021. The said unit will support the female entrepreneurs regarding tax payments, and registrations at the concerned forums. I don’t know how practical the idea is and how effectively it will be implemented as the inclusion of women in economic activities is yet a challenge and there is still minimal visibility of women due to multiple barriers like patriarchy, cultural norms, economy, and most importantly the unconscious gender biases. As per certain researches, women are scarcely represented rather underrepresented as it’s a mere six percent representation in a leadership capacity with male counterparts heading the 96 percent companies across the globe.  Entrepreneurship business is being labelled as male oriented in our society and, lack of support from family due to the cultural restrictions on mobility of women. One of the most important blockades is the Educational system. Female involvement in socio-economic domains is the hallmark of advanced and industrialized societies. Our Islamic History has the example of Hazrat Khadija as a businesswoman, that’s all that we can learn about women in business from my system of education regarding economic participation of women. Trade is purely taken to be a man’s affair. It is indeed a bad luck that in our country, almost half the population is not allowed to share the economic gains and restricted to economic participation at all levels. Our society has traditional roles for women and the literacy rate for women is among the lowest in the world. Empowerment begins with education and awareness and therefore education is a must for all women to prove themselves as a successful mother, wife, and co-worker but also successful in the nontraditional roles to contribute their due part in the socio-economic development. The contemporary multi streamed system of education i.e. public, private, and religious seminaries seem...

March 9, 2021 is marked an important day in Pakistan as the Supreme Court reiterated the financial rights given to women by Islam in the sharia law. A 12-page judgment by Justice Qazi Faez Isa after hearing a property matter stated that Islam has given exceptional legal rights to women. The important economic rights given to women by Islam were highlighted in the judgment. According to the Sharia law, the bridal gifts given at the time of marriage are the wife’s property, and remain hers. These gifts can be added to but not taken away from her in any case. Moreover it highlighted women’s right to own and dispose of her property; her right to retain – both before and after her marriage – her income and property; her ability to do business without permission of her father or husband and keep and spend what she earns, which means that every woman in Pakistan has the right to attain economic independence as per her own choice and decision. Additionally, Justice Isa added that a woman has every right to own property and run a business along with inheriting from her parents and husband, and also suggested husbands to make wills to provide for their wives. The judgment also included citations from the Holy Quran about women’s rights to enter into contracts and to witness contracts, get benefit from what they earn. Though the judgment is a good news for women across the country facing grave violations of these rights, but the main question i.e. implementation of these laws, still stands unanswered. There is no doubt about the fact that Islam is the biggest advocate of women rights and a large portion of the Sharia law highlights the rights available for women, but the issue of lack of implementation persists. The basic reason behind the frail application of these laws is the lack of public awareness of the available legislation along with the cultural setup which doesn’t permit individuals to question the existing cultural norms and to speak up for their rights or against...

Education and development come hand in hand. It is not possible to achieve sustainable economic development without substantial investment in the education sector, as only education has the power to generate sumptuous human capital. Education not only enhances people’s perception of themselves and the world but also improves their wellbeing and leads to extensive social benefits to individuals and society along with raising people’s efficiency and creativity and encouraging entrepreneurship and technological developments. Additionally, education lays the foundation for social, political, and economic development of a country. One of the reasons behind Pakistan’s lagging behind in the economic domain is the structural flaws in its education system. According to Economic Survey for Pakistan, Pakistan has a 60% literacy rate, with female illiteracy worse than that of men because of the overarching patriarchal culture and challenging conditions for females, and hence this factor adds greatly to Pakistani women’s decreased participation in the economic domain. The persistent loopholes in education system which hamper women’s economic participation include a less number of female educational institutes. Since Pakistan has a patriarchal society, a lot of parents do not allow their daughters to study in coed institutes, hence separate educational institutes for female students are needed. Gender-based segregation of academic disciplines happens to be another impediment in females’ economic empowerment. In the Pakistani society, the few girls who tend to acquire higher education, are encouraged and allowed to do so in limited fields only e.g. medical, natural sciences etc. This limitation impedes them from pursuing careers of their own choice and interest. Since, the institutes offering these disciplines cannot accommodate a lot of students, only few get a chance to acquire higher education. Moreover, the few females that get the chance to pursue education get to study an...