Women Leadership in Pakistan – A Change in the Making

The challenges to increasing female participation in economic activity and the creation of leadership within  women entrepreneur are manifold.These challenges range from social taboos, conservative lobbies,lack of access to education ,information and finance to discriminatory behaviors by male counterparts, severely degrading the ability of women to develop leadership skills and to participate in the policymaking process. Yet another problem is there are gender focused institutes that are seperate colleges for girls and boys which greatly limitize the facility of networking ,mentorship and learning opportunities.
          Nevertheless, Pakistan is slowly developing women leadership.In year 2008, Dr. Fehmida Mirza of  PPP was elected the first woman speaker of the National Assembly. Recently Ms. Nasrin Haq became the first woman to head the Karachi Port Trust as its chief executive.Hina Rabani is the first woman foreign minister .
           Moreover, in November 2007 yet another history was written when "The Overseas Chamber of Commerce & Industry" appointed its first ever women CEO Unjela Siddiqi.Then in January 2008, Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) appointed Jehan Ara as the first paid woman CEO.And even Jehan Ara was previously elected as President of P@SHA for two consecutive term.
            Although bringing the same approach in business throughout Pakistan is still a challenge, nevertheless, the positive vibes are now being felt.