Strategizing Gender Equality - A Summit by MG Apparel and CERB

‘You can’t make people change the way they think but you can make them change the way they act, this comes from policy and practices in the workplace,’ said Ms. Fauzia Viqar, Federal Ombudsperson for Protection Against Harassment in the Workplace.

The keynote speech set the stage for the two- day workshop ‘Strategizing Gender Equality’ in Multan with SDG Leader for Goal 5 – MG Apparel

Day one covered Leadership traits and effective communication strategies for women hearing from female leaders and experts Ayesha Leghari-Imran, Sabahat Bokhari, Kehkeshan Usman, and Sharjeel Ahmad and finally the role of leadership Anees Khawaja.

With leading gender experts, women leaders in sport and topics that addressed pertinent issues for a working woman today, day two illuminated strategies and insights that the participants can use to be change makers in their organizations.

The day started with candid conversations, facilitated by Safia Hussain, programme coordinator, on what is it that keeps women from the workplace. Participants shared their concerns from being excluded from networking opportunities to facing barriers from managers.

Maliha Husain from Mehergarh: A Center for Learning, led a session on implementing the Harassment Against Women in the Workplace Law and emphasised the need to talk about these topics.

In a panel on Empowering Women Through Sports, Multan Sultan owner, Ali Khan Tareen and General Manager of the team, Hijab Zahid, shared their experiences in expanding the sporting arena for women.

“Whenever women have been involved in projects, the outcomes are beneficial for all and the projects are successful,” said Mr. Tareen.

Sustainability Research Manager Dure Sameen Akhund led a session on how companies can develop a gender strategy, addressing biases and myths around working women and the business case for gender diversity.

Nazish Shekha, Head of Initiative, concluded the day with an overview on the Climate2Equal project beng conducted in collaboration with the IFC – International Finance Corporation. She shared that with climate change impacting food security and women being the receivers of the fallout, the business case for climate action is very clear.