Amidst the quick movement of the labor force from the rural areas to densely populated urban cities, the State of Pakistani Cities report, while compiling data from all over the country, has found that the rate of female participation in the labor force is increasing.
The above information was unveiled in the course of a meeting, attended by experts working on the report. It was held by the UN-Habitat in Islamabad yesterday, an exercise that concluded the provincial consultative meetings held in this regard previously.
About the Report
The organizations working on the report of the State of Pakistani Cities include the Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC), the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) which is providing the required technical assistance, and the government of Australia which is funding the research.
This research is crucial for planners, administrators, and decision- and policy-makers because it will equip them with the relevant information to be able to design efficient solutions for urban settlements without neglecting important parts of the society.
Challenges Posed By Urbanization
The Secretary for the Ministry of Climate Change, Syed Abu Akif, emphasized that the rapid urbanization was one of the most important challenges that the country faces currently. This is not to say that urbanization should not happen since this progress actually offers a lot of potential opportunities if exploited through the correct means.
He further stated that it was unfortunate that prior insufficient information of the dynamics in an urban setting was the leading cause of the lack of opportune delivery of governmental services, efficient resource allocation, and solutions for cities by the relevant authorities.
Furthermore, he also revealed that for the compilation of the report, the team working on it had the full support of the provincial authorities. Provinces have also stated that they want to produce provincial versions of this research soon.
The Secretary further commented on the reports findings saying that besides Quetta, which still has a trend of joint and extended families, the size of the average household had shrunk, suggesting smaller families.
Another trend was also noticed in the report, which was the rise in female labor participation rate in all the ten Pakistani cities that the report had surveyed.
