by Faiza Tehseen ISLAMABAD, Nov 02 (INP-WealthPK): Women around the globe are actively working as pacesetters, businesspersons, start-up founders, system administrators and home-based workers. In the Fourth Industrial Revolution, women are mainstream partners in economic activities regardless of their existing traditional roles in conventional economic sectors. They represent 38.8% of the labour force around the globe, but unfortunately in a developing country like Pakistan, a big chunk of population comprising well-educated but unskilled women still lack socio-economic empowerment to contribute their fair share to the national development. According to the Population Census of 2017, Pakistani women constitute 48.76% of the society but in sharp contrast to their numerical strength, they make just 20% of the labour force. The Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995, of which Pakistan was a part, had set strategic objectives and actions for advancement of women and achievement of gender equality in 12 critical areas of concern. Beijing Declaration and the platform for action is an agenda unanimously adopted by 189 countries for women empowerment and is also considered as a key global document on gender equality. As a follow-up of the Beijing conference, the Government of Pakistan pledged to implement the agenda by merging it with its National Action Plan, 1998 followed by the National Policy for Development and Empowerment of Women in 2002. Owing to the positive efforts of the Government of Pakistan, women are working in most of the key professions, but the country is strictly in need to frame proper policies to make a large proportion of its population economically active, which will not only make women work, but also discourage the illegal practice of child labour. The World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognised sources, reported in 2020 that 20% women out of 13.5 million population [fully estimated as 20.53 %] work as labour force out of which 7% women work as unpaid family agricultural co-workers. In Pakistan, women employment role is just 4.3% and even lower when it comes to industries. In 2018-2019, women earned just 18 percent of what men earned. A recent report released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says 'Pakistan's GDP can increase by up to 30% if women play their active role in the labour force and other economic activities'. If Pakistan has to achieve the objectives set in the Beijing Declaration and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) designed by the United Nations in 2015, it has to frame special security and labour laws for women to make them part of the economic mainstream. It can replicate the World Bank's success story of development work in Latin America and the Caribbean for women empowerment. In these countries, women were educated and imparted necessary skills resulting in 30% decline in poverty over a span of 10 years. Empowering Pakistani women economically not only holds the key to a successful professional career of individuals, families and communities, but also to the overall economic productivity. They must be provided with ample flexible loans to start their own businesses from minimum to the medium level. In rural areas, it is necessary at the government level to make people realise that women are an important part of their communities and if they work at home or outside, it will increase the family income making them prosperous. Uneducated women should be trained as a skilful labour to earn a decent living. Traditional ways in which women mostly act as unpaid co-workers must be done away with and they must be educated to claim wages against their economic activities. Cultural prospects must also be considered, as they contribute to women's 'time poverty' [working long hours and having no choice to do otherwise.]