The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT), which chairs the national Steering Committee (SC) Digitalization for Women Economic Empowerment (D4WEE) Project convened a high-level meeting at the UN Women Country Office in Islamabad to review progress and strengthen coordination on the Digitalization for Women Economic Empowerment (D4WEE) Project, a four-year initiative (2024–2028) funded by KOICA. The SC serves as the highest body for the D4WEE Project, providing strategic oversight, guiding policy integration, and ensuring accountability. Key government and private sector stakeholders gathered to assess ongoing efforts and to ensure effective delivery of programme objectives.
Federal Minister IT & Telecommunication, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, highlighted the SC’s mandate to embed project outcomes into institutional strategies, ensure sustainability beyond project cycles, and track gender-disaggregated results in real time. She noted Pakistan’s progress in digital inclusion, with last year’s gender mobile internet usage gap dropping from 36–38% to 25%, and the creation of over 800,000 digital wallets by women through the Ramzan digital payments initiative. She also emphasized government efforts providing 7 million free SIMs to underserved women, expanding access to digital services and financial inclusion.
The Minister stressed that integrating women into Pakistan’s digital economy is critical to formalizing the largely informal sector, which constitutes about 50% of GDP. Expanding women’s participation strengthens workforce supply, enhances per capita productivity, and builds a sustainable talent pipeline. She also called for strategic preparation for emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, to ensure they act as equalizers rather than exacerbate disparities in access to opportunities.
The meeting concluded with a renewed commitment from all stakeholders to enhance inter-agency collaboration, accelerate programme implementation, and translate successes into lasting policy reforms. By tracking measurable outcomes and embedding digital inclusion into core strategies, the Steering Committee chaired by MoITT aims to ensure women play a central role in Pakistan’s rapidly growing digital economy under the Digital Nation Vision of the Honorable Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr. Shehbaz Sharif.
