Coordinator to Federal Tax Ombudsman Meher Kashif Younis on Thursday said that investment in rural women, a major chunk of total population, could play key role in economic growth, eliminate abject poverty and abolish hunger in Pakistan.
Speaking at a seminar on “ Role of Rural Women in National Development”, he said that majority of women were living in rural areas and their contribution towards national development was extremely marginal, said a press release.
He said if we fully utilize this untapped vast potential successfully in a planned manners, Pakistan can make strides in every sphere of life that will help ameliorate a lot to improve socio-economic complexion of women folk across the country.
He urged the government to make sure that all public sector entities engaged for rural uplift to deliver otherwise same task be entrusted to private sector with full government support which will bring revolution.
Younis said that one of the most efficient and effective strategic actions to address these issues include empowering rural women, as the efforts and talents of rural women are crucial to countering hunger and poverty.
He said rural women make up a quarter of the world population and close to half of the world’s agricultural workforce, whereas in some developing contexts a large majority of farmers are women.
Meher Kashif Younis said yet globally including Pakistan rural women are paid 25 percent less than men for doing the same work, adding that women are also more likely to suffer from poverty, hunger and the health effects of insufficient nutrition.
