Gender mainstreaming in productive sectors of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

In Reclaiming Prosperity in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – A Medium Term Strategy for Inclusive Growth (2015) four priority growth sectors for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) were identified: industry (manufacturing and construction); agriculture and livestock; mining; and tourism. Several growth drivers and challenges were also identified and the overall investment climate was analysed. This paper seeks to augment the findings and recommendations of that report by adding a gender component.

There is very little information on the status of women in the growth sectors of the economy of KP. This report attempts to address this gap in knowledge by taking the first steps toward providing baseline information on women’s participation, identifying crucial gaps in the data, making suggestions to fill these gaps, and offering policymakers a useful framework and recommendations for gender mainstreaming in sector growth strategies. It also seeks to highlight challenges and constraints to women’s economic development and recommend strategies on how to combat these constraints in order to enable women to take advantage of emerging opportunities and to enable KP to benefit from more inclusive growth.

This paper is designed to address the following questions about the growth sectors:

• What data is available on women’s participation in KP’s growth sectors and where are the data gaps?
• What are the key issues related to the role of women in KP’s growth sectors?
• What indicators can be used to monitor the key issues affecting women in KP’s growth sectors?
• What lessons can be learned from examples of best practices to mainstream gender from other countries?
• What policy recommendations can be made to further the role of women in KP’s growth sectors?

Further, it is hoped that this paper will serve to highlight the importance of women’s empowerment to the development of KP and the critical link between high income employment and economic growth. An attempt was made to ensure that recommendations made are realistic and implementable in the context of KP.

The methodology of this study is a review of available literature and published data sets on the topic. As this study was desk-based it relied on published information and analysis of existing databases. As with all desk-based research it faced challenges with regards to the availability, reliability, and quality of data. A serious limitation in formulating a complete inclusive growth strategy is the lack of gender disaggregated data in most sectors. Wherever possible, data specific to KP is utilised. However there is a dearth of data across all sectors, but it is particularly severe in KP’s tourism and mining sectors. In these instances national level or regional level data is utilised to present broad trends and commonalities that may be instructive on the situation in KP. As a result of these limitations, this study should be considered a starting point for further research rather than a definitive report.