Social and Economic Empowerment of Women in the Age of Digital Literacy: A Case Study of Pakistan, Islamabad- Rawalpindi
The augmented usage of digital technology, predominantly mobile ownership, has significantly altered the ways of doing the thing. The digital era with the internet-connected world is creating new venues for social and economic development, with efficiency in digital literacy for participation. The present article explores the digital literacy skills of women that enables them to be active members of the digital world. It also investigates the challenges, self-learning, and financial constraints among other few, which women face while acquiring these skills. The qualitative research is conducted in Islamabad and Rawalpindi using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The study indicated that 83% of women have learnt digital skills informally and yet these help them in strengthening their social networks, managing daily affairs regarding their personal life and most significantly being engaged in entrepreneurship from digital forums. This successful use of digital technology has contributed to their social and economic empowerment.
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Digital Era, Digital Literacy, Empowerment, Entrepreneurship, Women.
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(1) Sohima Anzak
PhD Scholar, Department of Anthropology, Quaid-e-Azam university, Islamabad, Pakistan.
(2) Aneela Sultana
Assistant Professor,Department of Anthropology, Quaid-e-Azam university, Islamabad, Pakistan.
02 Pages : 8-13
http://dx.doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2019(IV-IV).02 10.31703/gssr.2019(IV-IV).02 Published : Dec 2019The Integration and Strengthening of Vulnerable Segments of Society in Disaster Risk Reduction Initiatives (Evidence from Developing World)
Disasters have the capacity to increase the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of marginalized groups of society. It is the need of the hour to include these segments to make the process of disaster risk reduction successful. This research article presents comprehensive information regarding global agenda and efforts made by developing countries for the empowerment & resilience of weak people during natural and man-made disasters. This article provides information on vulnerable groups are exploited for reaping benefits of DRR policies. Case studies are studied from developing world like, Indonesia, Cambodia, Philippines, Nepal, India & Myanmar to highlight the initiative taken to empower these segments. This evidence has been used in recommending more productive actions for inclusion of vulnerable people in DRR mechanisms in developing countries.
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Vulnerability, Empowerment, Inclusion, Resilience, Capacity Development, Disaster Risk Reduction
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(1) Afsheen Zeeshan
Lecturer,Department of Government and Public Policy, National Defence University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
(2) Shahzad Hussain
Assistant Professor,Department of Government and Public Policy, National Defence University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
(3) Muhammad Bashir Khan
Assistant Professor,Department of Government and Public Policy, National Defence University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Politics of Islamization and Women Rights in Pakistan
Women empowerment and Islamization have critical relationship with each other in the political history of Pakistan. The domination of a single dogmatic thought process has affected the alternatives and has reduced the political space of almost half of the societal segment in the political sphere. The initiatives of women empowerment have been taken in Pakistan, but that empowerment could not trickle down to the masses. The slogans of empowerment further concentrate the power of the dominant elite in a same class. The process of Islamization started in Pakistan before its inception in 1947. Islamization got significant momentum during the Zia-ul-Haq regime in Pakistan in the 1980s. This paper is an attempt to explore the engagements of women with Islamization and how the process of Islamization influenced women's empowerment. The existing writings on Islamization largely focused on Islamic laws and their political manifestation in the polity of Pakistan. This study primarily focused on gendered dimensions and their linkages with Islamization. A qualitative approach has been used for exploring the core question, and it has been found that ideological state apparatuses are dominating both Islamization and women's political rights.
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Islamization, Women, Empowerment, Pakistan, Politics.
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(1) Saiqa Jabeen Shouket
M.Phil. Scholar, Department of Islamic and Religious Studies, Hazara University, Mansehra, KP, Pakistan.
(2) Muhammad Shakeel Ahmad
Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad, KP, Pakistan/Post-Doctoral Fellow, School of Politics and International Relations, The University of Nottingham United Kingdom.
Are NGOs Bridging the Gaps? Analyzing Opportunities for Gender and Political Empowerment in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Gender and development approach gained attention during the 1990s, since then government and nongovernmental organizations adopted these approaches for gender and political empowerment in Pakistan. This paper analyzes the contribution of NGO towards gender and political empowerment in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This study explored how NGOs interventions created opportunities for gender and political empowerment. This study presents an analysis of NGO policies and practices for gender and political empowerment in the research area. Qualitative research methods including semi-structured interviews and participant observations were used to conduct this study. The study revealed that NGOs created spaces for political awareness and participation of men and women community members, councilors and policymakers. This study argues that NGOs interventions can create opportunities and effectively contribute to gender and political empowerment goals if contextually planned and implemented in the research area.
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Gender, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, NGO Approaches, Opportunities, Peshawar, Political Empowerment.
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(1) Dur E Shawar
Ph.D. Scholar,Department of Development Studies, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, KP, Pakistan.
(2) Bahadar Nawab Khattak
Associate Professor, Department of Development Studies, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, KP, Pakistan.
(3) Abda Khalid
Assistant Professor, Department of Development Studies,COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, KP, Pakistan.
Importance of Social Mobilization Intervention of Crop
This research study is carried out to know about the importance of social mobilization intervention of Crop Maximization Project on the socio-economic development of small farmers of district Charsadda. The objective of this research study was to know about the role of the social mobilization of the project in uplifting the social and economic conditions of small farmers of the targeted area. The present research study was carried out in union councils Rajjar-II and Sarki Tetara of Tehsil and district Charsadda. Pre-tested interview schedule was used for data collection from 150 respondents, who were purposively selected through random sampling method. The analyzed data indicated that 100% of the respondents were fully satisfied the role played by social mobilization in their motivation, awareness, empowerment, capacity building and organization. Majority (93.3%) of the respondents utilized these skills empowerment for their social and economic development while only 6.7% of them got no benefits. The research findings indicates that effective social mobilization can pave the way for other practical developmental initiatives by motivating, organizing and building the capacity of the targeted population. In future rural development projects there should be effective social mobilization sector, which can bring the maximum number of the targeted population in main stream to get the maximum benefits from the development projects
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Small farmers, Social Mobilization, Crop Maximization Project, Empowerment
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(1) Muhammad Kaleem
Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Bacha Khan University,Charsadda, Pakistan
(2) Bahader Sher Khattak
M.Phil Scholar, Rural Development, AIOU, Islamabad, Pakistan
(3) Syed Rashid Ali
Associate Professor, Chairman Department of Sociology, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Pakistan
02 Pages : 9-18
http://dx.doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2021(VI-III).02 10.31703/gssr.2021(VI-III).02 Published : Sep 2021CBO Based Microfinancing in Pakistan: Comparative Analysis of Akhuwat Foundation and Kashf Foundation
Poverty is a risk to harmony, which results in the dismissal of human rights. Microfinance is a tool that is famous across the world as a solution to alleviate poverty. Through this tool, lowincome households can have permanent access to a range of high-quality and affordable financial services that are offered by a range of retail providers. Community-based organizations, commonly known as "CBO", play a vital role in providing microfinance to the needy group of people, which determined the relationship between microfinance and poverty alleviation. This research presents a comparative study between Akhuwat Foundation and Kashf Foundation microfinance models for providing housing finance to low-income groups. A qualitative approach has been applied to determine the relationship between microfinance and poverty alleviation. In-depth interviews are conducted with working staff and borrowers of Akhuwat Foundation and Kashf Foundation (microfinance organizations). The research concludes that both organizations strive to alleviate poverty and to enhance the living standard of low-income people through mutual support in the system. The study also suggests that these organizations should need to emphasize more on the diversified needs of the poor people and must aim to serve the most extremely poor strata of the population.
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Microfinance, Interest-Free Loans, Community Empowerment, Poverty Alleviation
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(1) Muhammad Salman
School of Architecture & Planning, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
(2) Sana Malik
School of Architecture & Planning, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
(3) Fariha Tariq
School of Architecture & Planning, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
Coverage of Women's Empowerment Issue in Pakistani Newspapers: An Agenda-Setting Perspective
In the current research, a quantitative content analysis of four leading newspapers Dawn, Daily Times, Nawa-i-waqt, and Daily Jang was conducted to investigate the patterns of coverage of women empowerment. The time period for this study consisted of November 2023 to April 2024. The results showed that Urdu newspapers gave more coverage to the issue at hand as compared to English newspapers and Nawa-i-waqt gave the maximum amount of news regarding women empowerment as compared to other newspapers. The outcome of this research revealed that Pakistani Urdu newspapers give suitable coverage to women empowerment-related news, although different newspapers use different agendas to portray news related to women empowerment, such as political empowerment, social empowerment, economic empowerment, and education empowerment. The results showed that more importance was given to political and social empowerment and the common agenda of these four newspapers was social and political empowerment.
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Women Empowerment, Pakistani newspapers, Agenda Setting, Political Empowerment, Social Empowerment, Women in Print Media
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(1) Samia Manzoor
Assistant Professor, Institute of Media and Communication Studies, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Punjab, Pakistan.
(2) Fatima Mushtaq
MPhil Scholar, Institute of Media and Communication Studies, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Punjab, Pakistan.
(3) Sabiha Ibrahim
MPhil Scholar, Institute of Media and Communication Studies, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Punjab, Pakistan.
01 Pages : 1-10
http://dx.doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2024(IX-IV).01 10.31703/gssr.2024(IX-IV).01 Published : Dec 2024Empowering Futures: The Impact of Cultural, Social, and Economic Disparities on Girls' Education in Jhelum, Pakistan
Gender inequality poses a challenge to the educational participation of teenage-girls in Jhelum Pakistan. This paper seeks to examine the complex factors underpinning and the extensive effects of gender inequalities in education within this area. The present study details various causes of gender inequalities as analyzed from a qualitative content analysis of various works, which include economic factors, social-cultural beliefs and practices; early marriage, lack of awareness, physical facilities, and gender biases. This study finds that all these factors work together to exclude girls from education and maintain poverty and non-advancement of socio-economic status. Finally, the discussion highlights the need to establish various strategies to address gender inequality, such as; community sensitization, increasing the percentage of girls education, finances, establishing safe school structures, and favorable laws on gender. The solution to these recommendations would help Jhelum move towards the right direction for giving teenage-girls equal education opportunities and better community.
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Gender Inequality, Women Empowerment through Education, Teenage Girls, Jhelum, Social and Cultural Norms, Early Marriage, Economic Challenges, Gender Stereotypes, Educational Access, Financial Support
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(1) Sana Amjad
Lecturer, Department of Pakistan Studies, National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Islamabad, Pakistan.