Gender

Introduction
Economic globalisation has become a powerful force that impacts ordinary women and men’s livelihood. International statements and grassroots level narratives underline that women and men are affected by economic globalisation in a dissimilar manner. However, accounts of such differential effects are rarely found for the Pakistani context, and statistics do not tell women and men’s differing stories. This is despite the wide gender gaps in access to economic resources in the country. Only 16% of Pakistani women have access to paid employment as compared to 71% of men. These women’s average income is only a third of those of their male counterparts. That is why SDPI took up gender and globalisation as one of its research programmes. It focuses on the impact of the various agreements for the liberalisation of trade in goods and services under the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Program Objectives
The objective of the theme’s inclusion in SDPI’s research program is:

to find out how processes of economic globalisation influence gender(in-) equality in Pakistan;
to raise awareness about this interaction amongst stakeholders, and
to develop strategies how to make sure globalisation does not widen gender inequality but rather supports women’s empowerment.

A couple of years back, the issue would have raised eyebrows. It still does. But the world market is invisibly tied to people’s homes and stoves. Economic roles of women and men are different, and they are different across societies. However, a common feature is that women rather than men are regarded as those in charge of domestic work like the care for children, the elderly and the sick, and for household chores like cooking and cleaning. In Pakistan, male honour is closely interlinked with women’s sexual behaviour, and women’s movements are therefore restricted and controlled through the system of female seclusion. This has for example an impact on female employment. Due to their prominent role in domestic work, women are often perceived as secondary income earners alongside a male breadwinner. Besides discouraging female labour market participation, this perception lowers their wage expectations, resulting in poorer pay, lower status, and more precarious contract types for women workers. Apart from paid employment, gender roles also influence access to other assets, such as natural resources and basic services. For example, the restricted female mobility in Pakistan is an obstacle in access to education for women and girls.

The question is how such gendered access to resources to sustain their livelihoods for women and men in Pakistan is influenced by opening up global markets for goods, services, and investment?

Current Challenges
What are the current challenges for the interface between gender and globalisation in Pakistan?

In manufacturing, the phasing-out of the import quota system under the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) from January 2005 will further liberalise international trade in textiles and clothing. This change will have a disproportionate impact on women who are strongly represented in the Pakistani garment production. Research undertaken at SDPI shows that the Pakistani garment sector will hardly be able to compete with large suppliers such as China and India. This might lead to a significant decline in female employment in the sector.

Liberalisation of agricultural trade under the WTO’s Agreement on Agriculture will also be fully implemented in Pakistan in 2005. It involves the reduction in subsidies for seeds and fertilisers. Given the strong representation of women farmers in growing food crops for local markets, their sources of income and food security more generally are at stake.

The WTO has embarked on a major liberalisation of trade in services in the context of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Although the Government of Pakistan as a WTO member has not made any commitments with respect to privatisation of water-related services in the context of the GATS, the EU has included water services in the GATS negotiations. In their request for liberalisation of services, the EU demands access of foreign suppliers of water distribution services to Pakistan. The provision of water-related services is of particular relevance for women in Pakistan, as they are the ones in charge of water hauling if tap water is not available and of water management in the household. They are also informal care providers for household members affected by water-related diseases. The question thus is whether water privatisation can guarantee equitable access to the resource for both women and men.

Economic and development benefits of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are stressed in research and policy-making. Liberalisation of telecommunication services, e.g. in the context of the GATS is therefore promoted internationally as well as nationally. Foreign direct investment in and access to ICTs has increased significantly in Pakistan during the past years. Today, access to mobile phones is twice as high as the number of telephone connections. However, so far no assessment of its impact on gender-specific access to ICTs and efforts to increase women and girls’ development benefits from it have been made. In other developing countries, there is evidence of an increasing gap in access to ICT between women and men.

SDPI’s Contribution

Research Level:

In 2004, SDPI undertook research on the potential effects of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) on gender equality in Pakistan. The results show that it is probable that Pakistan will not be competitive in garments but specialises in the production and export of cotton yarn and cloth. This scenario would lead to a large number of job losses, as it is the clothing industry that is considerably more labour-intensive than earlier stages of textile processing. Due to the concentration of women workers in this sub-sector, it would also imply a significant decrease in relative female employment. This might destroy these women workers’ hopes for economic and overall empowerment, and uplifting of their families. An assessment of the actual gendered employment effects of the quota phase-out will be conducted in 2005.
SDPI is prepared a study on the effects of liberalisation of water supply under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) on gendered access to potable water. Preliminary work included the development of a conceptual framework for the gender analysis of liberalisation of basic services and an overview about human and social dimensions of Pakistan’s water policies.
Research on the extent of the Gender Digital Divide, i.e. gender gaps in the access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Pakistan and on measures to bridge it effectively is under preparation.

Policy Advice:

Under this program, SDPI briefs officials from the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Industries on the potential gendered employment effects of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) phase-out. Amongst others, SDPI suggests setting up a training scheme for vulnerable women workers in the Pakistani garment industry.

Advocacy Level:

Based on its research on the gender implications of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC), SDPI conducted an in-house afternoon seminar “Textile workers in the post-quota era. Labour market implications of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing” on June 28, 2004. Panellists included representatives from the Ministry of Commerce, business associations and Dr. Karin Astrid Siegmann from SDPI.
Together with Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES), SDPI organised a two-day workshop for trade unions and women organisations’ representatives on gendered employment implications of the ATC expiry. It took place from October 18-19, 2004. An action plan on how to mitigate the potential harmful employment consequences of the quota phase out was developed by the participants Textile and Clothing Sector Workers in the Post Quota Era Workshop Action Plan (Pdf file size 156 kb) and presented to a panel of stakeholders from various ministries.
SDPI - UN-TIHP workshop: What comes after the quota went? Human development effects of the ATC expiry- November 21-22, 2005

Capacity Building Level:

A training module on “Gender, water, and globalisation” is included in SDPI trainings on “Women, development and environment” and “Natural Resource Management with a focus on Water Management”.
An SDPI training on "Gender Dimensions in Economic Globalisation" is also regularly conducted.
Participants from the government, business, and academia were trained on “Employment dimensions of the ATC expiry” at a training course on WTO agreements by Azam Chaudhry Law Associates.

On going Projects

From Vulnerability to Resilience with National Centre of Competence in Research North-South (NCCR) Transversal Package (TP) 2.

Earlier Projects

Whose Public Action? Analyzing Inter-sectoral collaboration for Service delivery in collaboration with the University of Birmingham, UK.
Improving the Livelihood of Rural Communities in Afghanistan (ILRC) Project in collaboration with Swisspeace.
Mainstreaming Gender in PRSP in collaboration with UNDP.
Macro-micro Linkage: Which Economic Policy for Women's Economic Empowerment?

Please contact Dr. Karin Astrid Siegmann for more details regarding SDPI’s program on gender and globalisation.

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