ISLAMABAD, March 8 (APP): First Lady Begum Samina Alvi on Wednesday stressed upon the need that they must address gender biases in tech and other sectors of life that hindered women’s participation and limit their opportunities for advancement.
“We need to create a culture of inclusion and diversity in which women can thrive and achieve their full potential,” she said in a message on the observance of International Women’s Day.
She said on the day they celebrated the accomplishments and contributions of women around the world and reflected on the challenges that still needed to be addressed to achieve gender equality.
“One critical area that demands our attention is the role of technology and innovation in promoting gender equality. The digital divide continues to impact women’s access to technology, education, and job opportunities, limiting their economic and social empowerment. We need to take bold steps to bridge the gender gap in technology,” she opined.
In Pakistan, the first lady said, despite significant progress in recent years, women’s inclusion in the tech industry and their access to digital technologies remained low.
“We need to work towards increasing access to digital resources, providing education and training in technology, and building supportive environments that enable women to excel in tech-related fields. This includes initiatives such as mentorship programs, scholarships, and providing digital technologies,” President Secretariat Press Wing in a press release quoted her as saying.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the adoption of digital technologies by women in Pakistan saw an increase. More women were now using online platforms for education, business, and socializing, she observed.
Begum Alvi said this indicated a growing trend of women in Pakistan leveraging digital technologies to work remotely and find employment opportunities on digital platforms.
“Although this is quite encouraging, we still need to work more to improve their access to digital technologies and platforms. By using digital platforms to find work, women can overcome many of the barriers that they might encounter in traditional industries, such as bias and discrimination,” she opined.
This, in turn, she said, helped in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in Pakistan by providing more opportunities for women to enter the workforce and contribute to the economy.
Together, she emphasized that they could create a future where women had equal access to opportunities and could contribute fully to society.
