Human Rights Minister Dr Shireen Mazari has rejected the World Economic Forum (WEF) report on gender parity in Pakistan.
The WEF ranked Pakistan second worse among 149 nations in its 'Global Gender Gap Index 2018’. Pakistan is only ahead of Yemen in terms of gender equality, according to the report.
Rejecting the statistics of the report, Dr Shireen Mazari termed them incorrect and said that talks were being held with the forum to set its record straight.
“We are not saying that gender inequality doesn’t exist in Pakistan but the extent to which the gender gap is portrayed in the report is incorrect,” she said while addressing the National Assembly.
The minister stressed that Pakistan was placed even behind Saudi Arabia in terms of gender equality in the report, which is not right.
She pointed out that WEF misreported that no women held a ministerial position in Pakistan as many women have served as and continue to be ministers in the country.
Dr Shireen Mazari further said that the government is taking steps to ensure women empowerment and gender equality.
The WEF ranked Pakistan at 148th among 149 nations in terms of gender equality. The report tracked disparities between the two genders in terms of education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.
