Pakistan

Our Partner

Women's Status at a Glance

Country Overview

Government type: Federal republic
Total population: 172.8 million
Population under age 15: 37.8%
GDP per capita: $2,400 (purchasing power parity)
Life expectancy: 64.13 years
Ethnic groups: Punjabi 44.68%, Pashtun 15.42%, Sindhi 14.1%, Sariaki 8.38%, Muhagirs 7.57%, Balochi 3.57%, other 6.28%
Religions: Muslim 95%, other 5%
Internet users: 100 per 1,000 people

Education and Health

Adult literacy rate
Female rate: 36%
Male rate: 63%
Maternal mortality rate: 500 per 100,000 live births
Total fertility rate: 3.73 births per woman

Political Participation

Year women received
right to:
Vote: 1947
Stand for election: 1947
Seats in parliament held by women
Lower house: 33%
Upper house: 17%
Women in govt. at ministerial level: --
Quotas: Election law quota (60 out of 342 seats reserved for women)

The Aurat Foundation is a non-governmental organization committed to women’s empowerment and citizens’ participation in government in order to create a socially just, democratic, and humane society. Established in 1986, the Foundation has created the nation’s largest district-level network of organizations, activists, and volunteers that works together to support citizens’ participation in addressing issues of concern to women.

More specifically, the Aurat Foundation:

makes information available to decision makers so that they are aware of women’s issues, and to grassroots women so that they may prepare themselves for leadership.
builds the capacity of citizens groups, public authorities, and public representatives to support women’s activism and participation in decision-making.
advocates for a democracy that is participatory and accessible for women.

Curriculum Development

WLP partnered with the Aurat Foundation in 2007 to produce an Urdu adaptation of Leading to Choices, designed for use in grassroots workshops with Pakistani and Indian women.

Stories and Reports

The Politics of Participation: Women and Transformative Leadership

Presented by Women’s Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace (WLP) in cooperation with the Dialogue Project of the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University

afghanistan	bahrain	brazil	cameroon	egypt	india	indonesia	iran	jordan	kazakhstan	kyrgyzstan
lebanon	malaysia	mauritania	morocco	nicaragua	nigeria	pakistan	palestine	turkey	uzbekistan	zimbabwe

English