Islamabad:Deputy Country Representative of UN Women Pakistan Fahmida Iqbal met with Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme (PMYP) Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan at the Prime Minister’s Office here on Tuesday to discuss collaboration aimed at boosting young women’s economic, digital and leadership potential.
They agreed to strengthen institutional cooperation, emphasising that investing in young women is central to the country's sustainable and inclusive development. Both sides highlighted the synergy between PMYP’s ‘4Es’ framework i.e. education, employment, engagement and environment, and UN Women’s mandate to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Mr. Khan outlined the programme’s policy direction, anchored in the National Youth Employment Policy, which focuses on school-to-work transition, skills development, entrepreneurship, and inclusive labour markets.
He also shared progress on the National Adolescents and Youth Policy, prioritising digital inclusion, safer online spaces, gender-based violence prevention, child marriage prevention, and youth health and wellbeing.
Women’s economic participation was highlighted as a national priority. He noted that female labour force participation currently stands at 21.5%, with a national target of 35% by 2030.
Under the PM Youth Business and Agriculture Loan Scheme, 25% of loans are reserved for women, with discussions emphasising the need for gender-responsive financial literacy, enterprise readiness, mentorship and innovative financing models to boost uptake.
The meeting explored potential collaboration through the Digital Youth Hub, envisioned as a national platform for employment matching, digital skills development and entrepreneurship. E-commerce enablement was discussed as a pathway to integrate young women into the formal economy.
Expanding women’s participation in technical and vocational education, particularly in non-traditional and high-growth sectors, was identified as a key partnership area. Behaviour change communication, gender-responsive training environments and life skills development were also highlighted.
The PMYP chairman highlighted institutional platforms such as the National Youth Council and the National Volunteer Corps, offering avenues for inclusive representation, climate resilience initiatives, financial literacy and community outreach.
Capacity building of young women leaders and strengthening gender-responsive youth governance were proposed as areas for joint action. The deputy country representative of UN Women welcomed PMYP’s strategic focus on mainstreaming gender across youth programmes and highlighted her organisation’s ongoing efforts on economic inclusion, leadership development and protective frameworks. She expressed keen interest in structured coordination across multiple PMYP initiatives for young women.
