Chairman Prime Minister’s Youth Programme (PMYP) Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan met with Ms. Fahmida Iqbal, Deputy Country Representative, UN Women, Pakistan at Prime Minister’s Office to discuss avenues of collaboration aimed at advancing young women’s economic, digital, and leadership empowerment in Pakistan.
During the meeting, both sides acknowledged the strong alignment between PMYP’s 4Es Framework — Education, Employment, Engagement, and Environment — and UN Women’s mandate to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment. The Chairman emphasized the Government’s vision of placing young women at the centre of Pakistan’s demographic dividend and inclusive growth agenda.
Highlighting policy reforms, the Chairman shared that PMYP initiatives are guided by the National Youth Employment Policy (NYEP), which focuses on school-to-work transition, skills development, entrepreneurship, and inclusive labour markets. He also briefed on the development of the National Adolescents & Youth Policy, prioritizing digital inclusion, prevention of gender-based violence, safe online spaces, child marriage prevention, and youth health and wellbeing.
Women’s economic participation was underscored as a national priority, noting that the current female labour force participation rate stands at 21.5%, with a national target to increase it to 35% by 2030. Under the PM Youth Business & Agriculture Loan Scheme, a 25% quota has been reserved for women. The Chairman highlighted the importance of enhancing uptake through gender-responsive financial literacy, enterprise readiness, mentorship, and innovative financing models.
The meeting also explored collaboration under the Digital Youth Hub, envisioned as a national platform for employment matching, digital skills development, and entrepreneurship. Both sides discussed the potential for e-commerce enablement to support young women in transitioning to the formal economy.
Expanding women’s participation in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), particularly in non-traditional and high-growth sectors, was identified as another key area for partnership. Support in behaviour change communication, gender-responsive training environments, and life skills development was also discussed.
The Chairman further highlighted institutional platforms such as the National Youth Council and the National Volunteer Corps, which provide opportunities for inclusive youth representation, climate resilience initiatives, financial literacy, and community-level outreach. Collaboration on the capacity-building of young women leaders and strengthening gender-responsive youth governance was proposed.
Ms. Fahmida Iqbal appreciated PMYP’s strategic focus on mainstreaming gender across youth initiatives and acknowledged its structured approach toward women’s economic and digital empowerment. She also highlighted ongoing initiatives of UN Women Pakistan aimed at promoting gender equality, women’s economic inclusion, leadership development, and protection frameworks.
She expressed strong interest in future collaboration across multiple PMYP programmes and discussed the proposal for structured coordination focused on young women’s economic, digital, and leadership empowerment.
The meeting concluded with a shared commitment to strengthening institutional cooperation to accelerate opportunities for Pakistan’s young women, recognizing that investing in young women is central to the country’s sustainable and inclusive development.
