Socio-Economic Empowerment of Women in Pakistan; Evidences from Gilgit-Baltistan

Empowering women and promoting gender equality has always been the major priorities throughout the globe. However Pakistani women still living in quagmire of centuries old patriarchal system and traditions which barricade their socio-economic and political empowerment. The present study examine the perceptions of local women and working staff and measured the impact of Local Supportive Organization’s services in empowering women in three districts of Gilgit-Baltistan (namely Gilgit, Hunza-Nagar, and Ghizar) by employing primary data of 8 LSO staff and 52 women beneficiaries in targeted areas. The focus of the study has been on the women empowerment by increasing women access to financial resources, such as credit, and seeks to identify factors which affect women empowerment. The majority of respondents identified that provision of trainings (technical skills to start business), access to credit and awareness by these LSOs to women were best strategies to increase income of households and had positively affected women empowerment. The impact of these LSOs services enable women to be financially stable and resulted in empowering them in decision making in their child education, marriage, political freedom and expression of interest. The findings of the study suggest through trainings, awareness and access to credit enhance women economic productivity and empowerment and such projects and program should be increased.