Investing in women

Saturday, 11 Jul, 2009

WORLD Population Day today comes as a reminder to the international community that humankind is at great risk from man-made and natural disasters that can be traced to a rapidly growing global population. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) now recognises the close link between women’s education and health and demographic issues. Women empowered through education, healthcare and employment invariably show a lower fertility rate. This has a positive impact on a country’s population growth and development. A holistic view must be taken of these interacting factors when seen in the context of demographics. In fact, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern that the global economic crisis threatens to reverse the gains made so far in these areas because in times of hardship women are the worst affected in terms of education, health and employment. When budgets — national or household — have to be slashed, spending on women is the first to be cut. Hence Mr Ban’s call for supporting the UNFPA theme for World Population Day and to invest in women and girls.

For Pakistan the day comes at a time when the country has much to worry about. First, contrary to the emphasis that UNFPA places on data collection and the relevance of the latter to demographic research, we have not been able to hold the census on schedule. The last headcount took place in 1998. The next was scheduled for last October. It was put off to June 2009 but has now been postponed indefinitely. Secondly, with no accurate statistics available — the demographic and health survey of 2007 only provided tentative data — planning and policymaking in every field of national life is impossible. Thirdly, given the country’s failure to improve the status of women substantially, can we hope to see much improvement in the population sector? Population dynamics affect every sector of national life. The issue of concern is not simply the growth rate and population size, which no doubt are key factors in economic development. Also critical are the age structure, fertility and mortality, spacing of children and migration.

With unsatisfactory investment in women’s education and healthcare, especially reproductive health, it is unrealistic to expect any substantial change in the immediate future. The female literacy rate is appallingly low while primary school enrolment shows gender inequity. Maternal mortality is still high, reflecting on the state of healthcare women receive and also the low esteem in which they are held in Pakistani society. It is the women’s issue that has to be addressed if Pakistan’s population crisis is to be defused.
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Long journey home

MILITARY operations in Swat and Buner have entered the final phase, officials claim, and a few remaining pockets of Taliban resistance will soon be eliminated. On Wednesday, the federal information minister and the DG ISPR stressed that both districts are now safe enough for displaced persons to return home. All of Pakistan can take heart from this news. But it will naturally be welcomed most by those with the greatest stake in the outcome of the Malakand operation, the IDPs who suffered terribly during the conflict and were ultimately forced to flee. The timetable for their journey home became clearer on Thursday when the prime minister told the media that the official relocation process will begin on July 13. Also on Thursday, the head of the army’s special support group said that the displaced will be taken home in four phases. People living in camps are to be given precedence over those taking shelter in schools while IDPs who are housed with relatives in villages will be third on the list. Finally it will be the turn of all remaining IDPs wherever they might be, including those in the care of NGOs.

The government has promised that returning IDPs will receive rations for one month and food support until December. The DG ISPR, for his part, maintains that most essential services have been restored, the local administration and police are functioning ‘adequately’, and troops will remain on hand to provide security cover. But this is just the beginning of the rehabilitation process and the challenge ahead will be daunting. Considerable infrastructure repair needs to be undertaken. The political administration as well as the local security apparatus must be strengthened to ensure that the writ of the state, once it is restored fully, is not undermined again. Schools and houses have to be rebuilt. Farmers who lost livestock or seed grain during exile and entrepreneurs whose tourism- oriented businesses collapsed under Taliban rule may need grants or soft loans to get back on their feet. Equally importantly, the state’s guard vis-à-vis militants must not drop even momentarily. Only then can the people of Malakand hope to regain any sense of security.
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Sarkozy’s warning

FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy is not wide of the mark when he says that an Israeli attack on Iran will be “an absolute catastrophe”. His statement at the G8 summit at L’Aquila, Italy, comes within days of American Vice-President Joe Biden’s remark in a television interview that his country could do nothing if Israel chose to attack Iran. In an interview with ABC News, Mr Biden said Washington could not “dictate to another sovereign nation” and that it was for Tel Aviv to decide what was in its interest. ‘Dictating’ to another country is, of course, against the basic principles of interaction among sovereign nations. But the sole superpower cannot take refuge behind this principle to shirk its responsibility and avoid action where a serious breach of international law is feared and where a recalcitrant state’s or group’s behaviour poses a threat to world peace. The G8 summit called upon Tehran to negotiate, but thanks to Russia the conference decided not to slap further sanctions on Iran. The summiteers thus showed maturity when they gave Tehran until September to negotiate, and refused to impose another layer of sanctions on Iran.

Mr Biden’s statement runs counter to the spirit of moderation shown by the G8 summit and to the overtures President Barack Obama has been making to the Muslim world. Mr Obama has also exercised restraint during the West’s Iran-bashing frenzy in the aftermath of the June 12 presidential election, and he has promised a seat for Tehran at the Afghan talks. The American vice-president’s statement, however, is fraught with consequences, for it is tantamount to giving a go-ahead for the attack. The French president perhaps pulled the rug from under Israel’s feet when he said “Israel should know it is not alone and should follow what is going on calmly”.