Executive Summary
The report Women at Work: Closing the Gap, launched jointly by the European Union, the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), examines gender inequality within Pakistan’s private sector and proposes practical reforms to improve women’s economic participation. Despite progress in education and skills development, women’s labour force participation remains around 30 percent, while the gender pay gap exceeds 20 percent. Women remain disproportionately concentrated in low-paid, informal, insecure, and low-authority employment. Drawing on nationwide consultations, interviews, and an assessment of workplace policies and institutional frameworks, the report identifies major barriers to women’s entry, retention, and advancement, including workplace harassment, limited leadership opportunities, weak implementation of gender-responsive policies, and inadequate protections for informal workers. It recommends coordinated reforms in labour governance, workplace protection, leadership development, supply-chain accountability, worker infrastructure, entrepreneurship, and access to remedies. Overall, the report argues that advancing gender equality is essential not only to protecting women's rights but also to achieving inclusive economic growth and sustainable development in Pakistan.
