British Council

The British Council is the UK's international organisation for culturalrelations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledgeand understanding between the people of the UK and other countries.We do this by making a positive contribution to the UK and thecountries we work with - changing lives by creating opportunities,building connections and engendering trust.

Equality and diversity are an important part ofour work and we have adopted a strategy ofembedding them in everything we do through ourEquality, Diversity and Inclusion policy. In addition,we deliver programmes in many countries, whichsupport our priority of progressing gender equalityand the empowerment of women and girls. A keypart of our role is to support knowledge exchangeand dialogue between the UKand other countriesas well as working in partnership to addressgender inequality and support the empowermentof women and girls.

We also deliver a Global Social Enterpriseprogramme that draws on UKexperienceand expertise to promote inclusive economicsystems and help address entrenched social andenvironmental problems in our communities andsocieties.

Working across 29 countries with local andinternational partners, we provide capacity buildingfor social entrepreneurs, promote social enterprise

education in schools and universities, and manageinternational development projects that foster thegrowth of social enterprise. We also convene policydialogues, organize study tours and publish reportsto share knowledge and best practice in scalingthe social economy.

Our previous publications include:

a Vision of Social Enterprise in Europe2020 which considers the evolution of socialenterprise into the mainstream economy

Think Global Trade Social which examines therole of social business in achieving progresson the UN'sSustainable Development Goals

surveys providing crucial evidence aboutsocial enterprise in countries such as Pakistan,Ghana and Myanmar

More information about our work in both socialenterprise and women's empowerment can befound at: https://www.britishcouncil.org/society

About the AuthorsThis report was written by Mark Richardson from Social Impact Consulting, Josephine Tsui from 001 andAhad Nazir and Vaqar Ahmed of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SOPI) in Pakistan. Furthersupport was provided by Khawaja Umer and Ahmed Shah Ourrani of SOPI.

The research was conceived and managed by Paula Woodman, British Council.

AcknowledgmentsThe British Council would like to thank Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, Executive Secretary of United NationsEconomic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) for writing the foreword of this report.We would also like to acknowledge ESCAP for their support in launching this report in Pakistan. TheBritish Council and authors would like to thank all the people who took part in the surveys, focus groups,dialogue events and interviews, providing such rich information for this report. We would also like to thankGillian Cowell, Adam Pillsbury, and Zeenia Faraz from the British Council for their invaluable support.

DisclaimerThis publication has been produced with the assistance of the United Nations Economic and SocialCommission for Asia and the Pacific. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of theBritish Council and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of ESCAP.

Photo CreditsExcept where otherwise indicated, all photos in this report are © British Council.

About the United Nations Economic and Social Commissionfor Asia and the Pacific

.ESCAPEconomic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

The Economic and Social Commission for Asiaand the Pacific (ESCAP)serves as the UnitedNations' regional hub promoting cooperationamong countries to achieve inclusive andsustainable development. The largest regionalintergovernmental platform with 53 member Statesand 9 associate members, ESCAPhas emergedas a strong regional think-tank offering countries

sound analytical products that shed insight intothe evolving economic, social and environmentaldynamics of the region.

The Commission's strategic focus is to deliver onthe 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,which it does by reinforcing and deepeningregional cooperation and integration to advanceconnectivity, financial cooperation and marketintegration. ESCAP'sresearch and analysis coupledwith its policy advisory services, capacity buildingand technical assistance to governments aimsto support countries' sustainable and inclusivedevelopment ambitions.

About the ESCAP - British Council partnershipIn February 2017, the British Council and ESCAPsigned a collaborative agreement to promotethe growth of social enterprise and impactinvestment across the Asia-Pacific region as ameans of supporting progress on the SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDGs).

Together we are cooperating to provide research,analysis, training, policy dialogues and offerguidance to support policy makers and otherstakeholders in formulating and implementingpolicies and strategies that foster social enterprise

and create enabling environments for impactinvestment.

The social enterprise survey in the Pakistan is anexample of this work and will provide informationas to the size and scale of the social enterprisesector in the country.

Social enterprises harness trade, investment andbusiness activity towards social and environmentalobjectives and are increasingly recognized ascritical drivers of innovation for sustainabledevelopment.

Contents

Infographics

Foreword

1. Executive Summary

2. Introduction

3. Women's empowerment in Pakistan

4. Social enterprise in Pakistan

5. The impact of social enterprises on their beneficiaries

6. Women as social entrepreneurs

7. The impact of the social enterprise sector as an employer

8. Conclusion

9. Recommendations

10. References

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Gender inequality exists in Pakistan

... in politics, where only20% of parliamentaryseats are held by women

80% 20%

... in work, where female participation in the labourmarket is 24.3 per cent compared to 82.2 for men

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82.2% 24.3%

... in pay, where womenearn 33%less than men

... in entrepreneurship, where there are only ten countriesin the world where as many women start businesses as men

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FOUNDER

... in business, where less thanfive% of for-profit businessesare led by women

5%

1J... in society, where Pakistan ranks as the second worstcountry in the world for gender inequality and wheredomestic and sexual violence are endemic

UN'S SUSTAINABLEDEVELOPMENT

GOAL 5:'ACHIEVE GENDER EQUALITY

AND EMPOWERALL WOMEN AND GIRLS'

Organisations fighting gender inequality areunder-funded - particularly at the grass rootsLess than five per cent of OECDmembers' aid budgetsgo towards projects that explicitly target gender equalityand women's empowerment, and of this only 0.5 per centgoes to women's rights organisations. The median incomeof women's rights organisations is just $20,000.

Social enterprise is an under-utilisedsource of funding for gender equality

Globally, only 29 per cent ofwomen's rights organisationsuse income generation activities.Many lack the knowledge, skills,assets and resources to takeadvantage of social enterprise.

Social entrepreneurs are the R&Dlab for women's empowerment

GLOBALLY IN THE UK4%OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISESFOCUS ON WOMEN'S

EMPOWERMENT

THERE ARE AN ESTIMATED

210 Millionsocialentrepreneurs,ALL DEVELOPING AND TRYINGDIFFERENT APPROACHES TO

SOLVE THE WORLD'SSOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL IN PAKISTAN

THIS FIGURE IS 43%CHALLENGES

Evenwhen not explicitly focused onwomen's empowerment the social enterprisesector is providing greater opportunitiesin employment than the wider economy:

Brazil India Pakistan UK USA

43% 24% 22% 46% 46%Women (% of total workforce)======

55%* 25% 37% 66% 65%Women (% of social enterprise workforce)

* Estimated based on surveys, leadership statistics, and non-profit sector statistics

And more opportunities for women'sleadership than the for-profit sector:

Brazil India Pakistan UK USA

43% 9% 5% 18% 31%Women (% leaders in for-profit sector)

25% 24% 20% 40% 55%Women (% leaders in social enterprise)

Gender inequality exists in Pakistan

... in politics, where only20% of parliamentaryseats are held by women

... in work, where female participation in the labourmarket is 24.3 per cent compared to 82.2 for men

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80% 20%82.2% 24.3%

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... in entrepreneurship, where there are only ten countriesin the world where as many women start businesses as men

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FOUNDER

... in business, where less thanfive% of for-profit businessesare led by women

... in society, where Pakistan ranks as the second worstcountry in the world for gender inequality and wheredomestic and sexual violence are endemic

Foreword

Women across Asiaand the Pacific areplaying increasinglyprominent rolesin harnessing thepower of markets andbusiness to tacklesome of society'sgreatest challenges.Entrepreneurship andsocial enterprise arebeing recognised ascentral to advancingwomen's economicempowerment andsocial innovation. By

setting up their own businesses, women can becomeeconomically independent, build up their assets,and increase their financial and household security.Not only does this enable them to improve their ownwell-being, but it can change the destiny of theirfamilies and the broader community.

Nurturing social enterprises across Pakistan iscritical given the country's stressful social indicatorswhere only 30 per cent of women are in the paidworkforce and a mere 2 per cent of business loansare extended to them. Research by the UnitedNations Economic and Social Commission forAsia and the Pacific's (ESCAP) has found womenentrepreneurs face specific challenges that limittheir ability to fully participate in the economy.Policies and legislation are often blind to women'sneeds and interests. Women have insufficientaccess to finance, credit and technology. Barriersto education can be significant. The impact ofdiscriminatory social norms is pernicious.

Social enterprise supports dynamism and innovation.It provides innovative solutions to a range of issuessuch as education, job creation, health care, digitalliteracy and advocacy; and harnesses businessesto address critical social and environmental issues.Promoting women's engagement and leadershipin the social enterprise sector could help shift theperception of women as beneficiaries of assistance,to promoting them as agents of positive change.The benefits of women in social enterprise arewide-ranging, from showcasing the contribution ofwomen in transforming the lives of their families andcommunities, to providing sustainable opportunitiesfor women's economic engagement.

While the gender gap in social entrepreneurship

is considerably smaller than in mainstreamentrepreneurship, women entrepreneurs operatingin this sphere still encounter gender-specificdisadvantages. In Pakistan, the social enterprisesector reflects some of the gender inequalities of thewider economy. Yet there are comparatively morewomen leading social enterprises than traditionalenterprises. Twenty per cent of social enterprisesare led by women compared to 5 per cent of otherenterprises. Female social entrepreneurs in Pakistansurveyed for this report, confirmed an increasedsense of financial independence and economicempowerment. Seventy-one per cent reportedincreased confidence and 50 per cent reportedtheir role had strengthened their status in theircommunities.

Our research confirms social enterprise couldbe used as a model for empowerment of womenin Pakistan. To do so, a gender-responsiveentrepreneurial ecosystem needs to be created. Anenvironment that enables women entrepreneursto access the resources and offer support neededto develop their businesses, scale them up andmake them sustainable. This must include improvingaccess to finance, technology, innovation and goodgovernance. To foster such an ecosystem, multi-sectoral collaboration is essential. A concertedeffort by policymakers, financial institutions, theprivate sector and women entrepreneurs' networksis required. I hope this report can make a positivecontribution to galvanizing support for this effort.

The importance of social enterprise is reflectedin the "Regional Roadmap for Implementing the2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Asiaand the Pacific". ESCAPand the British Council arecommitted to combining their collective expertiseand resources to support member States working tofoster enabling environments for social enterprise.Together, we stand ready to support Pakistan in itseffort to enhance women's empowerment as anintegral part of inclusive and sustainable growth.

Shamshad Akhtar

Under-Secretary-General of the United Nationsand Executive Secretary of ESCAP

1. Executive SummaryPakistan has repeatedly ranked as the secondworst country for gender inequality in theworld'. In Pakistan women and girls face lack ofopportunities, discrimination and violence. Theliteracy rate for women in Pakistan is only 40 percent, compared to 69 per cent for men; primaryschool enrolment for girls is only 67 per cent,compared with 81 per cent for boys; less than 30per cent of women are in the paid workforce; onlytwo per cent of business loans go to women; anddomestic and sexual violence are endemic".

The UN's Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)Number 5 is to 'achieve gender equality andempower all women and girls.' There is a lot of workto be done to achieve this by the target date of2030.

In recent years, social enterprise has startedto playa small but growing role in women'sempowerment. Proportionally four times asmany women lead social enterprises than for-profit businesses in Pakistan. There are somewell-publicised examples of social enterprisessupporting vulnerable women through employmentand training, and providing affordable productsand services. However, there is also evidence thatmany of the inequalities that exist in the widereconomy are also reflected in the social enterprisesector, and that women may be opting for socialenterprise not by choice, but because otheropportunities are not available to them.

This report sets out to establish how well socialenterprise really does address gender inequalityand women's empowerment in Pakistan. It ispart of a series of reports commissioned by theBritish Council to look at the link between socialenterprise and women's empowerment across fivecountries: Brazil, India, Pakistan, the UK and the US.It explores the strengths and weaknesses of socialenterprise as a mechanism for empowering womenand considers different ways it is being used to thisend. It also examines the idea that social enterpriseas a business model might advance women'sempowerment even when that is not a specificobjective.

It should be stressed that social enterprise is simplyone tool in supporting women's empowerment. It

6

can be extremely useful and effective in certaincontexts, as this report will demonstrate. Butit should be seen as complementary to, not incompetition with, other approaches to women'sempowerment. Gender equality can only beachieved through a multi-faceted approach.

That said, we found that social enterprises arebeing used specifically to support women'sempowerment in Pakistan in three powerful ways,namely to:

create economic empowerment for womenthrough micro-entrepreneurship

deliver training or employment opportunitiesfor women

provide affordable products and services forwomen

We also found evidence through primary researchthat the social enterprise sector is contributingmore towards women's empowerment than theprivate sector

Methodology

For this report, we took an inclusive approachto the concept of social enterprise. As well asconsidering organisations identifying as socialenterprises, we looked at organisations andinitiatives that were using an entrepreneurialapproach, generating at least 25 per cent of theirincome from trade, and prioritising social andenvironmental impact over profit.

1. In order to identify the key research questions,the team conducted an extensive literaturereview and interviews with 20 key actors insocial enterprise and women's empowermentin Pakistan.

2. A detailed questionnaire consisting ofqualitative and quantitative questions wassent to social enterprises, and it gathered 214responses from across Pakistan including fromIslamabad, Hyderabad, Lahore, TobaTek Singh,Nankana Sahib, Rawalpindi, Abbaspur, Karachi,Quetta, Peshawar Cantt, and Faisalabad.

3. The data was analysed and initial findings

were shared with practitioners and experts inwomen's empowerment and social enterprisethrough focus groups and facilitateddiscussions in March 2017. These facilitateddiscussions helped to understand, deepen,correct and clarify the findings from thesurvey.

Further desk research and key informant interviewswere then conducted to fill remaining gaps in theresearch to produce the final report.

This study did not employ a visible minority,disability, or related marginalised community lensand further study is needed in this area.

1.1 THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISESON THEIR BENEFICIARIES

There is no doubt that individual social enterprisesare having a positive impact on women'sempowerment in Pakistan. Our survey wasspecifically targeted at social enterprises with aninterest in this field. Ninety-five per cent of the114social enterprises responding said they doempower women and girls. And, as the resultsbelow clearly demonstrate, the impact they arehaving is diverse.

Developing skills and creating jobs are the mostcommon ways in which social enterprises inPakistan are supporting women's empowermentand often these activities go hand-in-hand. Eighty-four per cent of the social enterprises responding

to our survey that cited creating employment asone of their areas of impact on women also citeddeveloping skills.

Among the notable social enterprises in Pakistanpromoting women's empowerment are the CircleWomen, Women's Digital League, SRE Solutions,Jassar Farms, WECREATEand Women throughFilms. These were chosen as case studies forthis report primarily because they exemplifythe social enterprise business model but alsobecause of their high levels of service deliveryand performance. Circle Women supports theleadership development of women entrepreneursand Women's Digital League helps buildwomen's capacities in the electronic and onlinesector, enabling women to work from home. SRESOLUTIONS provides access to affordable, highquality solar products. Their primary consumersare women who use these solar products as analternative to harmful kerosene fuel. Jassar Farmsempowers women by improving the quality of theirlivestock. It does so by providing high quality bullsemen to small-scale livestock farmers, a sectorprimarily looked after by women. WECREATEserves as an entrepreneurial community centrefor women interested in starting or expandingan existing business in Pakistan. And WomenThrough Films is a social enterprise making smalldocumentaries for the empowerment of womenand sustaining its business by conducting trainingsessions, workshops and seminars for studentsand others.

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The focus group discussions highlighted that socialenterprises can provide longer term sustainabilitythan grants-based women's rights organisationswhich are only funded for the delivery of specifictime-bound projects.

1.2 WOMEN AS SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS

When it comes to for-profit entrepreneurship inPakistan, less than five per cent of companies areled by women. By contrast 20 per cent of socialenterprises in Pakistan are led by women.

Despite this seemingly positive picture, thesocial enterprise sector reflects many of thegender inequalities seen in the wider economy inPakistan. A recent Thomson Reuters Foundationreport placed Pakistan 415t out of the world's44 largest economies in terms women'sparticipation in social enterprise. Women reportadditional barriers compared to men whenstarting social enterprises, including prejudiceand discrimination. Social enterprises run bymen are, on average, six times larger than thoserun by women 1. And there is significant gendersegregation by industry sector.

Women social entrepreneurs share manycharacteristics with for-profit entrepreneurs. Theyencounter many of the same barriers and draw onmany similar enablers. Their motivations are oftendifferent, however, as most social entrepreneursare driven almost entirely by a desire to createsocial impact.

Seventy-five per cent of women in our surveystarted a social enterprise to address a socialor environmental concern, or to benefit theircommunity. However, 25 per cent started purelyto earn an income, for career opportunity or forthe opportunity of flexible working. This is a muchhigher proportion than we found in the studiesin Brazil, India, the UKand the US.,Fifty-two percent of women social entrepreneurs in our surveystated that they would prefer to work in a differentsector - 26 percent of these respondents citedthe corporate sector as their preferred choicefor employment. This is the highest proportionamong the five countries we studied wherenearly 95 per cent of social entrepreneurs want

British Council survey data 2016. (average size, removing outlying 10 per cent)

to continue working in the social enterprisesector. This suggests that in Pakistan socialenterprise is playing an additional role in women'sempowerment. It is providing an opportunity foremployment or entrepreneurship when thoseopportunities are not available in the for-profitsector. It also suggests that for many women,social enterprise is not meeting their needs andaspirations as well as other sectors might, if theywere accessible.

Women social entrepreneurs face the samebarriers as their male counterparts as well asadditional barriers as a result of their gender.These include

prejudice and discriminationgender stereotypinggreater demands on time through home andfamily commitments

barriers to accessing funding and investment

Lack of capital is most often the greatest barrierfor women in social enterprise. Access to grantfunding was the most significant difference in theresponses of men and women in our survey, withalmost twice as many women as men reportingthis as a barrier. Research carried out by severalinstitutes including Wharton and Harvard BusinessReview suggest that no large female-led socialenterprise has yet received commercial loans.

Becoming a social entrepreneur has bothpositive and negative effects on women. Manyof the benefits of social entrepreneurship areexperienced by both men and women. However,female respondents to the survey cited financialindependence and respect within the familysignificantly more than their male counterparts.Other benefits that emerged from the surveyincluded:

71 per cent reported increased confidence62 per cent of female social entrepreneurssaid that starting a social enterprise hadgiven them an increased sense of self-worth39 per cent said they had greater respectwithin their families58 per cent reported greater respect in theircommunities.

However, 52 per cent of female socialentrepreneurs reported experiencing somenegative impact. Disturbingly, one in four reportedexperiencing violence or hostility at home as aresult of starting a social enterprise.

Compared to for-profit entrepreneurship, socialentrepreneurship is likely to create higher ratesof social return for the community and society atlarge. It is also likely to create proportionally morejobs for women.

Considering the UN's definition of women'sempowerment, social entrepreneurship can offerwomen an important opportunity to 'influencethe direction of social change to create a more

just social and economic order, nationally andinternationally.' (http://www.un.org/popin/unfpa/taskforce/guide/iatfwemp.gdl.html). It also offersincreased financial independence, respect,agency and self-confidence to women whoare not able to access opportunities in othersectors. It may also help to provide a bridge intoemployment in those other sectors by enablingwomen to gain experience and expertise.

1.3 THE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE SECTOR ASAN EMPLOYER

Many social enterprises empower womenas 'beneficiaries' of their services and socialenterprises empower the women entrepreneurswho set them up. Many social enterprises alsocreate jobs that can empower the women whowork in them.

There are three important questions to consideras we evaluate the impact of social enterpriseemployment on women's empowerment:

Are proportionally more women employed insocial enterprise than other sectors?

Are the jobs created decent jobs?

Do the jobs created challenge or reinforcegender stereotypes?

At 29 per cent, the proportion of female full-timeemployees in social enterprises is higher than the22 per cent in the wider economy in Pakistan,"and significantly higher than in small mediumenterprises where only eight per cent of full timeemployees are female (World Bank, 2013).

Furthermore, many of the women employedby social enterprises are from particularlydisadvantaged backgrounds - as a result, forinstance, of poverty or abuse - and would nototherwise find employment.

Social enterprises typically engage in trainingand development of their employees, thoughsometimes these opportunities may only be atbeginner level. Eighty four per cent of socialenterprises responding to our survey that citedcreating employment as one of their areas ofimpact on women also cited developing skills. Thissuggests that jobs created by social enterprisesspecifically for beneficiaries are likely to providebetter opportunities than those available throughfor-profit businesses. In the services sector inparticular there is a higher likelihood of capacitybuilding and on-job learning, especially in thecase of enterprises that make use of ICT (Ahmed2016d)

For those in leadership and managementpositions, pay in the social enterprise sector canbe lower than in other sectors. Also, as in thewider economy, there is a substantial gender paygap with men earning more than women. Fifty twoper cent of women social entrepreneurs wouldlike to work in a different sector, so while socialenterprise is offering an important pathway intothe labour market for women in Pakistan, it is notseen as the best possible option by the majority ofthose women.

Sixty three per cent of our survey respondentsbelieve social enterprises are challenginggender norms, while eight per cent believe theyare reinforcing them. The reality is that bothperceptions are correct.

In the for-profit sector women are over-represented in low-paid jobs particularly intextiles, craft and agriculture, and under-represented in manufacturing and tech, forexample. In social enterprise, we also see a similardegree of gender segregation.

However the greater representation of women asentrepreneurs and leaders in the social enterprisesector is, in itself, challenging gender norms inPakistan and proving a source of female rolemodels.

1.4 RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on our research, and particularly onthe discussions of our focus group of socialenterprise and women's empowermentsexperts, we have drawn together somerecommendations to increase the effectivenessof social enterprise as a model for supportingwomen's empowerment. These are grouped intorecommendations for governments and policymakers, funders and investors, social enterprisesand intermediaries, and the private sector. Someof the recommendations apply to one or moregroup, and all stakeholders need to work togetherto ensure the successful implementation of theserecommendations.

Applying a gender lens is critical as is includingboth men and women in the conversation.

1.4.1 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GOVERNMENT ANDPOLICY MAKERS

Many of the barriers facing female socialentrepreneurs are the same as those facingmale social entrepreneurs. Some of theserecommendations will be of equal benefit to both.

Governments should bear in mind that anypolicies to support women into work willactively support the social enterprise sector,which has a disproportionately high femaleworkforce. Similarly, any policies that supportthe social enterprise sector will support women'sempowerment in Pakistan. The simplificationand easing of tax and regulatory regime is alsoexpected to favourably impact small and mediumenterprises including those managed by women(Ahmed et al 2015).

Social enterprise working group

The Government should set up anintergovernmental social enterprise workinggroup led by the Planning Commission. Thisshould have representation from both federaland provincial governments, the Securitiesand Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP),the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR),theNational Commission for Status of Women

(NCSW),provincial planning and developmentdepartments, as well as representativesfrom the social enterprise sector to framerecommendations to the federal government.

The working group should have cross sectorrepresentation with stakeholders frombusiness, government, academics, policythink-tanks, and social entrepreneurs. Itshould ensure the voices of women socialentrepreneurs are proactively included andwork towards gender balance.

The working group should have a specificremit to look at the particular challengesfacing women social entrepreneurs and theopportunities for social enterprise to addressgender inequality and women's empowermentin Pakistan.

In addition, the SECPshould also convene ameeting with social entrepreneurs to see howcompany rules may be modified to supportthe cause of these entrepreneurs. A singlewindow system for social enterprises shouldbe established, either online or physically,so they do not need to pay separate visits toSECP,FBRand provincial revenue authorities.

Definition

The government should look to recognisea formal definition of social enterprise tofacilitate understanding of its benefits tosociety, and to women specifically, withingovernment and wider society.

The government should also create a specificlegal structure that could be adopted bysocial enterprises, such as the CommunityInterest Company in the UK.

Government Centre for Social Enterprise

The Planning Commission shouldimmediately operationalise the Centre forSocial Enterprise, already approved by theDepartmental Development Working Party.This centre should ensure that the supportrequired by women social entrepreneurs ismade widely available.

All provincial governments should follow theexample of the federal Planning Commissionand establish a Centre for Social Enterprise

at the departments of planning anddevelopment in provincial capitals. Thesecentres will act as a knowledge repositoryfor those seeking help from governmentdepartments and also ensure that reformsand fiscal incentives for women-led socialenterprises are part of provincial growthstrategies as well as annual provincialbudgets and annual development plans.

Financial support

Given the low number of social enterprisesin agriculture processing or small scaleindustry/manufacturing, the Ministry ofIndustries and Production should conducta review of available support to socialenterprises and make a case to the Ministry ofFinance for an enhanced fiscal package. Thismight, for example, be through the ExportDevelopment Fund for social enterprises thathave export potential, or via state-fundedloans through the National Bank of Pakistan,along lines similar to the textile or the fiscalpackages provided to the agricultural sector.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)shouldconduct an urgent study on the difficultiesfaced by women social entrepreneurs inaccessing funding from commercial banksand other scheduled financial institutions.Drawing on that study, SBPcan then work toremove the impediments faced by womenentrepreneurs in getting loans.

Export

The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan(TDAP)should consider exempting women-ledsocial enterprises that have export potentialfrom payment of a foreign exhibition fee. Theproducts of such social enterprises should besupported by TDAP in all exhibitions abroad.

Small and Medium Enterprise DevelopmentAuthority (SMEDA)should also subsidise theparticipation costs of social enterprises,particularly women-led social enterprises, inlocal or international trade fairs. The focusshould not just be on marketing final productsbut finding ways for these enterprises tobecome part of regional supply chains.

Public procurement

The Government should introduce preferredprocurement or a fixed quota for women-ledsocial enterprises in public procurement.Public Procurement Regulatory Authority(PPRA)should meet with social entrepreneursto discuss priority areas and also conduct adetailed study on the socio-economic benefitsof having such an arrangement. The samestudy can outline methods by which women-led social enterprises in various sectors maybenefit from public procurement.

The government should also consider ways toincentivise social enterprise procurement bythe private sector.

Social enterprise education

Governments and social enterprises shouldwork in partnership to increase the use ofsocial entrepreneurship education in schools,including a specific focus on addressinggender inequality. This should begin inprimary school.

This programme should prioritise workingwith girls and increasing business skills,confidence and the social acceptability offemale entrepreneurship.

Public awareness of social enterprises canalso be increased through changes in school,college and university curricula, with anemphasis on social entrepreneurship.

Facilitate the work of funders, investors andintermediaries

Governments should look to facilitate therecommendations for social enterpriseintermediaries, and funders and investors(below) through policies, convening, andprovision of finance.

Governments should also ensure coordinatedand effective communication of the supportand funding available for social enterprises. Thiscommunication should be especially targeted atwomen to help reduce the gender gap in socialentrepreneurship.

Increase awareness1.4.2 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SOCIAL ENTERPRISESAND SUPPORT ORGANISATIONS

Many of the recommendations for the socialenterprise sector will also require support fromgovernment and/or funders.

Women's social enterprise networks

Facilitate networking between gender-focused social enterprises and women'sorqanisations nationally and internationallywith a view to sharing best practice andreplicating successful models. In particularthis should look at supporting women'sorganisations to use social enterprise as atool to empower women and achieve financialsustainability.

Create a Women's Social Enterprise Chamberof Commerce to increase the peer supportavailable specifically for women socialentrepreneurs and board members.

Training for women social entrepreneurs

Work in partnership with provincial governmentsto assess training needs and provide appropriatetraining for women social entrepreneurs. Thisshould focus particularly on:

Financial literacyBusiness planningBusiness skillsPitching for funding and investmentTechnology

Social enterprise incubators and accelerators

Establish social enterprise incubatorsspecifically for women. These could becross-sector, supporting social and for-profitenterprises.

Online accelerator programmes could also beestablished; including a programme marketedspecifically at women social entrepreneurs.These will have a greater reach than individualincubators, although the anticipated successrate will be lower.

The YESNetwork could work more specificallyto enhance the participation of girls and youngwomen in social enterprise, aiming for 50per cent of the students they work with to bewomen.

Make effective use of media andcommunications to ensure women socialentrepreneurs are seen and heard.

Ensure a gender-balanced portrayal of socialenterprise in the media to ensure that thesocial value created by both female and malesocial entrepreneurs in a range of sectors isrecognised.

Challenges and competitions

Instigate competitions to start socialenterprises specifically to tackle genderinequality and women's empowerment,offering an appropriate mix of grant, equityand loan finance, and mentoring and supportto the winning enterprises.

These could be cross-sector and potentiallyfocus on those at the Bottom of the Pyramid(BoP).

Address opportunities and equal pay

Social enterprises in Pakistan shouldcarefully examine the gender balance of theirworkforce and the pay offered to male andfemale employees. Social enterprise shouldbe leading the way in gender equality, and yet79 per cent of survey respondents felt othersectors offered more equal pay.

1.4.3 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUNDERS ANDINVESTORS

Funders and investors in Pakistan must recognisethe value of gender equality in social enterpriseand the additional barriers facing women socialentrepreneurs trying to access grants, loans orequity.

Gender lens to investing

Gender lens investing is the practice of investingfor social and/or financial return while alsoconsidering the benefits to women. Many arguethat adding a gender lens to investing can helppromote female led social enterprises as well asproviding role models to women.

Use a 'gender lens' when making investmentdecisions; understand the additional barriers

faced by women social entrepreneurs and thestrengths of women-led social enterprises.

Provide training for funders and investors tounderstand the differences between male andfemale social entrepreneurs and the potentialof women-led social enterprises.

Set specific targets for a funding orinvestment portfolio that is balanced forgender. Consider launching products orservices that are specifically targeted atunder-represented sectors of the population.

Women investors and funders

Globally there is a shortage of female investors.Our recommendations are to:

set targets to ensure a greater genderbalance in the boards and senior leadershipteams of funders and social investors

ensure a gender balance in all panels makinglending and investment decisions

record and publish data on the level ofinvestment into male and female-led socialenterprises, the gender composition ofleadership teams and boards, and the impactof those investments

consciously use language that will notalienate women social entrepreneurs whencommunicating about products and services.Engage with specialist women's socialenterprise and business intermediaries tosupport this and to promote products andservices specifically to women.

Encourage gender equality and women'sempowerment amongst investees

Funders and investors should set criteria forsocial enterprises to meet before receiving agrant or investment including:

have gender-balanced boards

record and measure their social andenvironmental impact and include genderequality as a metric.

Raise the profile of women role models

Promote and celebrate the role of womenas social investors and women as socialentrepreneurs.

Specific funding priorities

Support social entrepreneurship to becomeembedded in the curricula and ethos ofschools and higher education institutions.Promote strategic research and collaborationopportunities as well as a social enterpriseschools programme.

Support in setting up a women's chamber ofsocial enterprises - a key recommendationduring our focus group discussions.

1.5.4 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE PRIVATE SECTOR

The private sector can playa crucial role indeveloping social enterprise, and in particularwomen's social enterprise in Pakistan by:

collaborating directly or indirectly withalready established women social enterprises.This can be done through corporate socialresponsibility initiatives or other mechanisms

offering creative forms of support andsponsorship for women social enterpriseswithin their own business sector (e.g.marketing and advertising campaigns forwomen social enterprises)

providing mentoring in select areas of socialbusinesses

providing representation on the boards ofwomen social enterprises to provide strategicguidance

purchasing products and services from socialenterprises for their business operations ormarketing campaigns, and encouraging theinclusion of social enterprises in their supplychains. This can be done through preferredprocurement from women social enterprises.

2. IntroductionAccording to the Gender Gap Rankings issued bythe World Economic Forum, Pakistan is ranked asthe second worst country for gender inequality inthe world". In Pakistan women and girls face lackof opportunities, discrimination and violence. Theeconomic survey of Pakistan finds that the literacyrate for women in Pakistan is only 40 per cent,compared to 69 per cent for men; primary schoolenrolment for girls is only 67 per cent, comparedwith 81 per cent for boys; less than 30 per centof women are in the paid workforce; only two percent of business loans go to women; and domesticand sexual violence are endemic'.

The UN's Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)Number 5 is to 'achieve gender equality andempower all women and girls.' There is a lot ofwork to be done to achieve this by the target dateof 2030.vi

In recent years, social enterprise has startedto playa small but growing role in women'sempowerment. Proportionally more women leadsocial enterprises than for-profit businesses inPakistan. There are some well-publicised examplesof social enterprises supporting vulnerablewomen through employment and training andproviding affordable products and services.There is also evidence of gender segregation, awage gap, and of other inequalities of the widereconomy reflected in the social enterprise sector.

This report sets out to establish how well socialenterprise addresses gender inequality andwomen's empowerment in Pakistan. It is partof a series of reports commissioned by theBritish Council to look at the link between socialenterprise and women's empowerment across fivecountries: Brazil, India, Pakistan, the UKand theUS. It explores the strengths and weaknesses ofsocial enterprise as a mechanism for empoweringwomen and considers different ways it is beingused to this end. It also examines the idea thatsocial enterprise as a business model mightadvance women's empowerment even when thatis not a specific objective.

It should be stressed that social enterpriseis simply one tool in supporting women'sempowerment. It can be extremely useful and

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effective in certain contexts, as this reportwill demonstrate. But it should be seen ascomplimentary to, not in competition with, otherapproaches to women's empowerment. Genderequality can only be achieved through a multi-faceted approach.

That said, social enterprise is contributing towomen's empowerment in many diverse ways.These can be grouped into three overlappingcategories, which we have considered in thefollowing sections:

Sections 3 and 4 give a brief overview ofwomen's empowerment and social enterprisein PakistanSection 5 examines the impact of individualsocial enterprises on their beneficiaries

Section 6 explores the impact on women whobecome social entrepreneurs

Section 7 looks at the impact of the socialenterprise sector as an employer

Sections 8 and 9 draw some conclusions fromthis research and make recommendationsfor government, funders and investors,practitioners and intermediaries to make thebest use of social enterprise as a tool forempowering women and girls.

2.1. METHODOLOGY

The methodology comprised a four-stage process:

1. In order to identify the key research questionsthe team conducted an extensive literaturereview and interviews with 20 key actors insocial enterprise .andwomen's empowermentin Pakistan.

2. A detailed questionnaire consisting ofqualitative and quantitative questions wassent to social enterprises gathering 214responses.

3. The data was analysed and initial findingswere shared with practitioners and experts inwomen's empowerment and social enterprisethrough focus groups and facilitateddiscussions in March 2017. These facilitated

discussions helped to understand, deepen,correct and clarify the findings from thesurvey.

4. Further desk research and key informantinterviews were then conducted to fillremaining gaps in the research to producethe final report.

This study did not employ a visible minority,disability, or related marginalised community lens,and further study is needed in this area.

2.2. DEFINITIONS

Both women's empowerment and socialenterprise are broad topics encompassing a greatrange of activities and impact. For this research,we have used definitions which embrace thisdiversity, considering organisations and actionsthat may fall outside more formal understandingsof social enterprise or women's empowerment.

2.2.1. DEFINITION OF WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT

Definition of women's empowerment: Women'sempowerment has five components: women'ssense of self-worth; their right to have and todetermine choices; their right to have access toopportunities and resources; their right to havethe power to control their own lives, both withinand outside the home; and their ability to influence

Theory of Change for Women's Empowerment, BritishCouncil

the direction of social change to create a morejust social and economic order, nationally andinternationally. (UN)

We used the UN definition of women'sempowerment as our primary definition. We alsoused the British Council's theory of change forwomen's empowerment as a model to exploreways in which social enterprise can empowerwomen and girls.

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2.2.2. DEFINITION OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

There is no formally accepted definition ofsocial enterprise in Pakistan. The understandingof 'social enterprise' varies from country tocountry, as do the names used to describe socialenterprises. It is also a concept with famouslyfuzzy edges: there are grey areas, for example,between social enterprises and charities or NGOsat one end of the spectrum, and between socialenterprises and socially conscious businesses atthe other.

NESsTworkwith social enterprises in emergingeconomies. They define social enterprise as 'abusiness created to further a social purpose in afinancially sustainable way.'

According to Social Enterprise UK,socialenterprises should:

have a clear social and/or environmentalmission set out in their governing documentsgenerate the majority of their income throughtradereinvest the majority of their profitsbe autonomous of statebe majority controlled in the interests of thesocial missionbe accountable and transparent

For this report, we took an inclusive approachto the concept of social enterprise. As well asconsidering organisations identifying as socialenterprises, we also looked more broadly. We

included categories of activity that may not alwaysfit within the strict definitions outlined above butthat are within the spirit of the definition. Thisincludes:

impact businessessocial investment activityNGOs/ non-profits with an enterpriseapproach, generating more than 25 per centof their income through tradetrading 'projects' hosted by NGOsindividuals engaging in social-enterprise-typeactivity (micro-social-entrepreneurship)

socially focussed businesses in privateownershipsolidarity enterprises / workers' cooperativesFairtrade businesses

Examples of these different types of socialenterprises are included in the report.

For our survey, we used two very simple criteria toidentify organisations that fitted within our broadcategory of social enterprise, in common withearlier British Council mapping exercises. Firstly,organisations had to earn more than 25 per centof their income through trade. And secondly,organisations had to prioritise their social orenvironmental mission above or equal to theirfinancial profit. Organisations relying on morethan 75 per cent grant income, or whose statedemphasis was on profit first, were excluded fromthe results.

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3. Women's empowerment in PakistanPakistan is the 24th largest economy in theworld and 42nd largest gross domestic product.It has a population of over 207 million andover 36 per cent of its economy is informal.The informal sector accounts for 85 per centof the population'v.Accordinq to the UN HDRReports 2016, Pakistan ranks 147 in the UnitedNations Development Programme's HumanDevelopment Index (HDI). Pakistan has achievedsome macroeconomic stability over the pastthree years, and the fiscal deficit has shrunk fromeightper cent to below fiveper cent. Pakistan hasmade large efforts to ensure that its growth hasbeen pro-poor. The head count of poverty hasfallen from 64.3 per cent in 2001-02, to 29.5 percent in 2013-14 (World Bank, 2017Viii). Genderdisparities, however, persist in education, healthand all economic sectors. Pakistan has one of thelowest female labour force participationrates inthe region (World Bank, 2017).

According to the World Economic Forum's GenderEquality Ranking, Pakistan has a Gender InequalityIndex of 0.556 ranking it 143 out of 144 countriesin the 2016. Gender disparities are evident acrosspolitical, social and economic spheres. In Pakistan,20 per cent of parliamentary seats are held bywomen and 26.5 per cent of adult women havereached at least secondary level of educationcompared to 46.1 per cent of male counterparts.For every 100,000 live births, 376 women diefrom pregnancy related causes, placing Pakistanin the bottom 25 per cent of the world's countriesin terms of maternal mortality rates. In Italy, bycontrast, the figure is less than tour=

The lack of parity for a good education is hittingPakistani girls the hardest. There has been apersistent gap of 23 per cent of literacy rates asput forth by the government of Pakistan in theireconomic surveys. The lack of education affectsskills training. Only 11per cent of women receiveany technical or vocational training and are oftenmarginalised in terms of the training offeredto them. There is a need to link skill training tomarket demand. On a more positive note, thereis an increase in the number of young womenbetween the age of 15-24 who are obtaining highereducation and entering the professional category!

Access to financial and physical capital areimportant in addressing standards of living. Mostof the population in Pakistan is unbanked, butthis is particularly acute for women. The need toincrease women's access to savings, loans andfinancial services is essential. Only 13 per centof women have access to any kind of loans. Bycomparison, 87 per cent of men receive loans.One of the main reasons why it is difficult forwomen to obtain loans is the lack of ownership ofphysical capita!=

According to 'Women's Economic Participationand Empowerment - Status Report 2016' by UNWomen, women's access to financial and physicalcapital is complex and is made more difficultby legal standards at national and local levels.While, women's ownership of land is low acrossall provinces, rural women are more likely to beland owners than urban women, as noted in thereport by UN Women. For small and medium-sized businesses, only two per cent of borrowersare women. This indicates a need to promoteentrepreneurship among women to help themgrow businesses to generate more employmentfor women. The highest rate of female borrowingappears to be from microfinance organisationsstanding at 26 per cent=

Female participation in the labour market is24.3 per cent compared to 82.2 for men. Lessthan 30 per cent of all women aged 15-64 arein the labour torce." This may point to the lackof opportunity for women. Most of the womenwho are employed work in agriculture, forestry,and hunting and fishing industries, which aresectors with the lowest wages. In these jobs,women are frequently paid below minimum wageand work long hours. l'he data does not includegirlsyounger than 15. It's important to note thereis often a trade-off between education and workas households may require their daughters towork as an economic necessity instead of goingto school.

Primarily, the bulk of working women areemployed in the informal sector. Over 73 per centof women work in informal agricultural work=' Itcan be difficult for women to gain workers' rights

in the informal sector as they tend to be paidthe lowest, barely earning minimum wage. Morewomen than men are paid less than minimumwage. Skilled agriculture, craft and related workand elementary occupations are the sectors withthe highest proportion of the labour force paid

less than minimum wage. These occupations arepredominantly held by women.

The next section looks at the way in which thesocial enterprise sector operates in Pakistan, andthe following sections look at how this model isbeing used to support women's empowerment.

4. Social enterprise in PakistanSocial enterprises have a long history in Pakistan.Hamdard Group is a socially motivated businessfounded in pre-partition India in 1906. Afterpartition, in 1953, the Pakistani branch becamean Islamic trust or 'waqf" which now runs a widerange of organisations and businesses, includinguniversities and pharmaceuticals that distributemedicine at affordable prices.

Despite this history, the social enterprise sectorin Pakistan is still in its nascent stages. Thereis a wide spectrum of social enterprises withdifferent legal forms, differing degrees of marketorientation and different approaches to social orenvironmental missions.

Pakistan operates in an environment thatpromotes private sector activity and increasinglythere has been a growing emphasis on smalland medium enterprises. There have beensome policy frameworks that have influencedownership structures, investments, taxation andcapacity building. For example, the IntegratedDevelopment Strategy 2014-18 provides aframework for implementing a pro-poor, pro-people reform agenda. It includes the creation ofan enabling environment for private sector, smalland medium enterprises, and cottage industriesthrough an entrepreneurial friendly regulatoryframework. The Sindh Strategy for sustainabledevelopment 2007 presents a ten-yearsustainable development agenda that includes thedevelopment of the small and medium enterprisesector.

Historically, development policies have focusedon large scale industries, but in the 1990s thefocus shifted to small and medium enterprisesas government better appreciated theircontributions to the national economy. Followingthis, SMEsbecame an integral part of economicpolicies. They have been mentioned in the PovertyReduction Strategy Paper 2010, the Microfinance(MFI) development Programme established 1992,the SMESector Development Programme 2010,and the Reform of the Financial Sector 2008.

Social enterprise, however, has still not beenformerly recognised in government policy andthere is no separate legal definition of social

enterprise in Pakistan. There is a Centre for SocialEntrepreneurship in the Planning Commissionof Pakistan, but it is in its early stages and hasnot yet created any policies or proceduresfor the promotion of social enterprises. Thereis a reported lack of understanding of socialenterprise within the public sector and as a resultthere is a lack of trust in the work conducted bythe social enterprise sector (Ahmed, v.. 2016).

There is also a lack of data specific to socialenterprise. More research has focused morebroadly on micro, small and medium enterprises(MSMEs).The lack of distinction between privateand social enterprise has contributed to a lack ofcoordinated efforts in promoting social enterprisein achieving social impact through a commerciallens (Ali, B.,&Darko, E, 2015).

The social enterprise support ecosystemin Pakistan includes government bodies,microfinance institutions, civil societyorganisations, local and international supportorganisations, private sector, investors, andbusiness incubators.

Microfinance Institutes (MFI) are a strongsupporter of Pakistan's social entrepreneurs. As ofSeptember 2015, there were approximately 3.63million active borrowers in Pakistan. Despite thehigh number, penetration rate for microfinance islow at 13.3 per cent. More work needs to be doneto target the poor and to increase the number ofpeople using micro-finance. Currently there areabout 50 corporate entities that are regulatedby the State Bank of Pakistan. While MFI areimportant for fostering the development of socialenterprises, their own sustainability is also at riskwhich can limit their ability to take risks. Eightyfiveper cent of the population is unbanked, andPakistan sees MFI and branchless banking as away of achieving universal financial inclusion.

There is also a growing industry of businessincubators and accelerators. They offer support.funding and business networks. It is estimatedthere are about 28 different start-up incubatorsin Pakistan, some of them government funded.Although they primarily fund small and mediumenterprises, some also support organisations that

are more socially and civic minded.

Incubators can be found in the education sectorincluding MIT's Enterprise Forum Pakistan, or IBA'sCentre of Entrepreneurial Development. Othersare built by private enterprises such as SDPl'sCentre for Capacity Building (CCB)which has beenproviding support for social enterprises since1998. The Social Innovation Lab was launchedby Lahore University of Management Science(LUMS)and provides a testing ground for socialinnovators to evaluate the sustainability of theirbusiness practice.

Local and international support organisationshelp to collaborate, sponsor and partner withlocal social enterprises. Ashoka, the YouthEngagement Service, the Acumen Fund, theGerman development agency (GIZ),the EnhancingEmployability and Leadership for Youth (EELY),and the Prime Minister's Youth Programme are allleading examples of organisations that support

and invest in microfinance and local socialenterprises. In June 2016, the UK's Departmentfor International Development (DFID) committedUS$10 million to the Insitor Impact Asia Fundwhich, in turn, makes investments in Pakistanand other countries in South Asia. Insitor backspromising businesses in these countries thatprovide essential goods and services to low-income households in sectors such as educationagriculture, energy and healthcare, where there isa large, unmet demand.

Social enterprises may also be found amongstPakistan's civil society organisations. Pakistan hasover 10,000 registered organisations employingmore than 264,000 people. With 87 per cent oftheir funding coming from indigenous sources,it is possible that many of these organisationsgenerate some revenue through some form ofsocial enterprise though more research is neededto explore this link.

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5. The impact of social enterprises ontheir beneficiaries

There is no doubt that individual social enterprisesare having a positive impact in the field ofwomen's empowerment in Pakistan. Our surveywas specifically targeted at social enterpriseswith an interest ip this field. Ninety fiveper cent ofthe 114social enterprises responding said theydo empower women and girls. And, as the resultsbelow clearly demonstrate, the impact they arehaving is diverse.

.J","'" m.•C' _~~.----How social enterprises in Pakistan aresupporting women and girls

Developing skills and creating jobs are the mostcommon ways in which social enterprises inDeveloping skills and creating jobs are the mostcommon ways in which social enterprises in

, Pakistan are affecting women's empowerment.

In our survey, 43 per cent of socialenterprisesstated that they were working to provide womena voice in their communities. The focus groupsrevealed that organisations were achieving thisobjective in different ways including by providingeducation to women, skills development initiativesfor women, local advocacy forums for womenand support for women's micro businesses.Several of these entities were set up by individualsas pilot projects to provide women from poorbackgrounds access to income generatingopportunities.

These organisations go through a very similarevolutionary phase where they are oftenvulnerable to financial shocks and resistance fromlocal communities. Those that survive tend to haveeither influence via family or are able to employ

effective social mobilisation practices with helpfrom friends or local civil society organisations.

Some organisations which manage to survivethefirst four or five years after being set up either usetheir own savings or invite donor participation forhuman resource development of their staff. Usuallythere are donor funded incubators willing to trainyoung women in administrative management.procurement methods, applying for governmentand non-government grants, etc.

Discussions within the focus groups highlightedthat social enterprises can provide longer termsustainability than grants-based women's rightsorganisations which are only fundedfor the deliveryof specific projects for a limited time period. Manyof these grants based organizations are opento adopting entrepreneurial methodsfor socialadvancement in order to secure longer term andsustainable financing solutions.

The following sub-sections give some indicationof the diverse models being employed by socialenterprises in Pakistan that are empoweringwomen.

5.1. BUILDING WOMEN'S CAPACITY

Some social enterprises in Pakistan are directlyproviding capacity building, employment andbusiness opportunities to women entrepreneursin Pakistan. One such example is CircleWomen (www.circlewomen.org) which providesleadership development of women entrepreneurs.Others like Women's Digital League (http://womensdigitalleague com) help empower womenby building their capacities in the electronic andonline sector, enabling women to work from homeand contribute to the family budget. In additionto conducting and publishing research, Circlealso arrange keynote addresses, workshops, andtraining sessions, which enable them to generatetheir own revenue.

The SEWEGAP Women's Hub is a socialenterprise project run by SEPLAAEnterprisesproviding a platform for professional women

and female entrepreneurs to network, learn andconnect with each other.

5.2. IMPROVING WOMEN'S LIVINGCONDITIONS

Other social enterprises benefit women byimproving their living conditions. For example,the organisationGhonsla(Building a Better Nest)is based in the rural northern areas of Pakistanwhere households have poor or no access toelectricity and natural gas. As a result they burnthree to five tons of wood per winter season forheating. However, in Northern Pakistan, 60-70per centof heating energy is wasted, lost throughpoorly insulated roofs and walls. Households spend30 per cent of their income on fuel for heating orelse women spend around 300 hours collectingfuel-wood. Women, children and elderly peopleremain indoors in the winter and often fall sick dueto smoke inhalation or pneumonia. The demandon wood for heating accelerates deforestationcausing damage to the environment.By insulatingroofs and walls Ghonsla reduce heat loss andtherefore the amount of wood burnt. This results inless time spent by women collecting fuel.

SRE Solutions offer a complimentary approach.They provide access to affordable, high qualitysolar products through a unique retail distributionnetwork. Their primary consumers are womenwho use these solar products to replace wood orharmful kerosene as fuel in the households.

As over 63 million Pakistanis live without access tothe national energy grid, kerosene isamajor monthlyexpense for families in off-grid villages. Not onlyis kerosene expensive, it is also highly damagingto health and the environment. The savings fromsolar solutions enable households to spend moremoney on education, health and other basicneeds. In addition, it helps generate employment,as around 800 people from small villages and lessdeveloped areas are hired and trained to serveas sales associates. It is not clear however, whatproportion of these sales associates are women.

5.3. PROVIDING EDUCATION,COUNSELLING AND SUPPORT

Some organisations provide education and otherforms of social support to women and young people.

Alvi Corporation is a social enterprise run bywomen for women. Their business activities fundFatima Girls School in an effort to make educationaccessible to girls from poor backgrounds. Itprovides free lunch and free education to helpempower girls who would otherwise be unable toafford to go to school.

Youth Engagement Services (YES) NetworkPakistan believes that Pakistan is facing a seriousyouth disengagement epidemic. Approximately1200 technical, vocational, educational andtraining schools and colleges across Pakistan havebeen engaged in the YES network. Over a periodof five years, 200,000 youth across Pakistan havebeen trained through the YES network, 30 percent of whom are women and girls. Moreover, thenetwork has supported 175 technical, vocational,educational and training schools to integratethe concept of social entrepreneurship intotheir curriculum. They have managed to engage1500 teams of young people in designing andimplementing business ideas under a varietyof competitions every year. They have alsocollaborated with 30 leading universities increating social entrepreneurship opportunities forstudent entrepreneurs.

MeraMaan is a social enterprise that generatesincome through capacity building workshopsin major cities and then provides the sametraining, free of charge, in less developed areas ofPakistan. They also offer a co-working space forentrepreneurs in Islamabad. And they run Sheni'sBed and Breakfast which offers boarding servicesfor trainees and entrepreneurs who are usingtheco-working space or training facility. The revenuegenerated is also reinvested into capacity buildingfor women in less developed areas of Pakistan. Amore detailed case study is provided in Annex 1.

5.4. HEALTH AND HEALTHCARE

DoctHERs is a social enterprise that extendsaffordable and quality healthcare to marginalisedwomen in impoverished areas where it is otherwiseunaffordable, and enables women doctors tocontinue practicing after having children.

The two founders of DoctHERs, Dr. Sara Khurramand Dr.lffat Zafar, were motivated to launch thebusiness by their personal experiences as female

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24

doctors. In Pakistan 63 percent of medical studentsare female, but only 23 percent of registereddoctors are women. DoctHERs is empoweringwomen in the face of cultural and social constraintsthat leave many of them otherwise unable topractice medicine after marriage.

With clinics operating in conservative areas wherefemale patients often feel more comfortable dealingwith female doctors than male ones, DoctHERs alsoprovides a medical service with which women feelmore at ease. These doctors provide consultationsfrom their homes over internet connections topatients in 'teleclinics' staffed with a nurse whocoordinates with the doctor to treat patients inperson. The doctor also has access to the clinic'sdiagnostic tools and can monitor her patients' vitalsigns remotely=

Social enterprise organisations often impact onthe health of their beneficiaries. For examplePharmagen Water (Health, Convenience,Affordability) work to promote preventivehealthcare in Pakistan, particularly in the Bottom-of-the-Pyramid (BOP) population, by making cleanand purified drinking water accessible. This has adisproportionately positive affect on women andgirls. Firstly they are more likely to be at home andtherefore unable to access alternative sources ofclean water. And secondly, in rural areas, womenusually fetch potable water from long distances,so this innovation saves women considerable timeand effort.

-Pharrnaqenoperates on the philosophy that cleanwater lays the foundation for a healthy and activelife and that access to clean water is everyone'sbasic human right. Their primary research in thisarea shows that 40to 60 per cent of commondiseases such as hepatitis, gastro, and cholera areacquired due to the consumption of contaminatedwater, thereby making Pakistan an extremelyvulnerable country in terms of water-bornediseases. These diseases have a disproportionatelyhigh incidence in women.

Pharmagen Healthcare Ltd. has developed asimple and affordable solution to the problem byestablishing a network of branded 'PharmagenWater' water shops in Lahore where water isproduced through state of the art reverse osmosis(RG) process according to strict WHO & PSQCAstandards guidelines. It is sold to the community at a

very low rate of Rs 1.5 per litre to walk-in customersand also offers a home delivery Rsservice. Havinga customer base of around 10,000 customers (andgrowing), Pharmagen Water is currently beingconsumed by around 60,000-70,000 people.

Another social enterprise,Sionser, take a differentapproach to clean water. Sionseris aself-sustainablesocial entrepreneurship project initiated by thestudents of National University of Sciences andTechnology. It is focused on saving millions of livesevery year by making people aware of their drinkingwater quality. Sionser is a water quality testing andmonitoring system which can test a water sampleinstantly and provide consumers with results inreal time. The test is conducted using test stripsand the results are disseminated to the consumersthrough a smartphone application and website.

The data is to be linked with a common database.This will be used to create an interactive geo-mapdifferentiating between safe and unsafe watersources. Additionally, a health care messageshowing the possible dangers of consuming unsafewater from certain sources will be displayed.

This will also support government departmentsto plan water supply schemes and maintain theexisting ones efficiently and thus should helpmake the supply of safe water to everyone areality.

5.5. CREATING JOBS AND LIVELIHOODDEVELOPMENT

The organisation WECREATE (RevolutionisingWomen around the World) serves as anentrepreneurial community centre for womeninterested in starting or expanding an existingbusiness in Pakistan. WECREATEstarted off as agrant-funded project but has now become self-sustaining. Based in Islamabad, the centre providesmentoring, business connections, specialisedtraining, connections to the community, mediaattention, access to markets and capital along withthe technical tools and resources necessary fortaking any business to the next level. WECREATEruns entrepreneurial programmes designed toaccelerate women owned businesses to the nextlevel. It offers:

a mentor and coaching network, certified andvetted to support the specific needs of women

business owners and entrepreneursbusiness building programmesa co-working space that provides a flexibleoffice option for women business ownerslooking for a community of liked mindedentrepreneursan incubator space designed specifically withwomen entrepreneurs in mind which includesday-care, women-only space and connectionsto tools and resources to grow their businessnetworking and events to provide criticalknowledge and connectionsa safe day care that cares for children whilewomen entrepreneurs work on starting andbuilding their businesses.

She Kab is an early success story of the WECREATEincubator. It is a technology platform that connectsfemale commuters in order to enable themto share rides. By providing safe, reliable, andaffordable transport solutions, She Kab aims tofoster empowerment. It generates employmentopportunities for drivers, makes travel saferfor women passengers, and lowers the genderdisparity in the workforce.

Popinjay is an ethical fashion label that trains andemploys female artisans in Punjab.

Alvi Corporation provides technical expertiseto enable women to succeed in business.The social enterprise is run by women, for womenand provides a range of advisory services includingbusiness planning, market research and feasibilitystudies.

Jassar Farms (Improving Livestock Productivityin Pakistan) have helped to disseminate highquality bull semen to small livestock farmers, asector predominantly looked after by women.Using the bull semen to breed cows that producehigher volumes of milk allows smallholder farmingfamilies, and particularly women who manage theirlivestock, to double their cows' milk yields, leadingto an income increase of around 33,300 Pakistanirupees ($400 USD)per year per cow.

Alishverish Enterprises provide a variety ofbusiness and entrepreneurship services. Foundedby Ms. Fatima Anila to provide opportunities for

women in Pakistan, Alishverish actively recruitswomen to all positions in the organisation.

5.6. GIVING WOMEN A VOICE IN THEIRCOMMUNITIES

The social enterprise sector has become animportant part of the campaign for women'srights in Pakistan. A large number of women-ledsocial enterprises in our survey were focused onthe delivery of education (39 per cent), providingcounselling services (51per cent), and givingwomen a voice in their community (43 per cent) -thus helping to create an ecosystem through whichwomen could become more active participantsin local communities, especially with regards toparticipation in public places.

Social enterprises have also helped create a voicefor women in the community. Women ThroughFilms is asocial enterprise that makes smalldocumentaries designed to empower womenand sustains its business by conducting trainingsessions, workshops and seminars for studentsand others. The profit earned is used to createawareness on women empowerment issues.

5.7. SUMMARY

Section 5 gives a sense of the breadth of differentapproaches being employed by social enterprisesacross Pakistan. It demonstrates the impact onwomen's empowerment that can be achievedusing social enterprise models to tackle genderinequalities and enable women and girls to reachtheir full potential. And it showcases models thatcould potentially be replicated in other areas toextend that impact to even more women.

Even when social enterprises are not specificallytargeting women, they often empower womenthrough their services to a different target group.For example social enterprises that are set up toprovide confidence building for disadvantagedyoung people will impact upon girls as well asboys.

The next section explores the impact onthe women who set up some of these socialenterprises.

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6. Women as social entrepreneursSo far, we have considered the impact that socialenterprises can have when they are specificallyset up to address challenges and inequalitiesfacing women and girls in Pakistan.

This section looks at women who set up a socialenterprise and the impact this has on them.

For the purpose of this research, we have usedthe term 'social entrepreneur' to refer specificallyto someone who sets up or leads a socialenterprise, even if that venture is at an earlystage.

When it comes to for-profit entrepreneurship inPakistan, less than five per cent of companiesare led by women, whereas, 20 per cent of socialenterprises in Pakistan are started by women.

Despite this seemingly positive picture,social enterprise reflects many of the genderinequalities seen in the wider economyin Pakistan. A recent Thomson ReutersFoundationreport placed Pakistan 41st out of theworld's 44 largest economies in terms women's

participation in social enterprise. Women reportadditional barriers compared to men whenstarting social enterprises, including prejudiceand discrimination. Social enterprises run bymen are, on average, six times larger than thoserun by women-. And there is significant gendersegregation by industry sector.

The following sections explore some of theseissues in more depth:

Section 6.1 looks at the differences betweensocial-entrepreneurship and for-profitentrepreneurship

Section 6.2 examines the drivers for womento become social entrepreneurs

Section 6.3 considers the barriers andenablers for women social entrepreneurs

Section 6.4 explores the impact on women ofbeing a social entrepreneur

Section 6.5 looks at how women socialentrepreneurs are being supported.

2 British Council survey data 2016, (average size, removing outlying 10 per cent)

I first made a mark in Pakistan's socialentrepreneurship climate when I becamethe CEOof Buksh Foundation and BukshEnergy Private Limited, co-founding bothsocial enterprises as my very first job. Beinga young entrepreneur and a woman. it took

FIZAFARHANFiza Farhan is one of Pakistan's best knownsocial entrepreneurs and was named inForbes magazine's '30 Under 30' socialentrepreneurs list. In 2009, she foundedBuksh Foundation, a micro-finance institutefocusing on poverty alleviation, enterprisecreation, and women's empowerment. Theirprojects have included 'Lighting a MillionLives', which creates women-led solarcharging stations and 'Drop of Sun', a solarwater filtration plant project providing 6,000litres of clean drinking water daily. Fizahas been appointed to the United Nationsbody for the empowerment of womenand she gave her thoughts on the role ofsocial enterprise in empowering women inPakistan.

'Social Entrepreneurship is the processof pursuing opportunities for long-termimpactful social change by passionate,visionary and committed individuals. Socialentrepreneurs are true leaders. They do notsit on the sidelines; they run the show andimpact social Change.

6.1. THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SOCIAL-ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND FOR-PROFITENTREPRENEURSHIP

If we want to understand the impact on women'sempowerment of social entrepreneurship, wealso need to look at for-profit entrepreneurship.Is the impact on women of starting a socialenterprise similar to the impact of starting a for-profit business? Which is a more effective tool forwomen's empowerment?

For-profit entrepreneurs and social entrepreneursshare some common characteristics but alsoexhibit important differences. Many of the

immense courage to make my place in themale dominated energy industry.

Through consistent dedication and resilience,I evolved as a social entrepreneur and sawthe numerous opportunities that lie in thisfield for women. For me, the beauty of socialentrepreneurship lies in the simple roadmapof "problems to solutions," and this becamethe simple mantra with which we launchedmultiple innovations in Pakistan. Some ofthese have been acclaimed as internationalbest practices by the UNFoundation."Lighting a Million Lives," was one suchproject. which led to a sustainable cycleof economic empowerment through socialentrepreneurship for women in villages,while addressing a host of other socio-economic problems including education,health, sustainable economic livelihood, [and]reduction of crime rate amongst others.

Through my personal experience I stronglybelieve thatsocial enterprises have thecapacity to produce social, financial andenvironmental value. In Pakistan I believethey can especially benefit women, who oftenlack opportunities within traditional for-profitbusinesses. Social enterprise is one of thefacets of the holistic approach to achievinggender equality and a fairer. more egalitarianand inclusive society at large:

enablers to women's entrepreneurship are similarto those for women's social entrepreneurship:access to appropriate .business support,government policies and legislation, finance,education, and role models. Equally, manyof the barriers are shared. Among these areconfidence in abilities, fear of failure, and familyresponsibilities.

The primary drivers for social entrepreneurs arequite different, however, to those of their for-profit counterparts. While many do want to earna reasonable income and have flexible workingaround family commitments, the overwhelming

aim of most social entrepreneurs, men andwomen, is to address a social or environmentalconcern or to benefit their community. Seventyfive per cent of women social entrepreneursresponding to our survey cited these as theirprimary motivation.

These comparisons are important becausethere is considerably more data on womenentrepreneurship than social entrepreneurship.While recoqnisinq that the same type ofenabler might look slightly different for socialentrepreneurship (e.g. appropriate finance,business support, legislation), many of therecommendations made to address barriers andenablers for women entrepreneurs also apply towomen social entrepreneurs.

When governments, funders or intermediariesseek to identify, communicate with and encouragewomen social entrepreneurs, they need to employdifferent approaches from the ones used with for-profit entrepreneurs.

Another crucial difference between social andfor-profit entrepreneurship is the expectedeconomic return for the individual. Socialentrepreneurship is likely to create higher ratesof social return for the community and societyat large. Social entrepreneurship is also likely tocreate proportionally more jobs for women (Seesection 7). But rates of pay in the social enterprisesector tend to be lower than other sectors. Thereis also a substantial gender pay gap in the socialenterprise sector.

6.2. DRIVERS OF WOMEN STARTINGSOCIAL ENTERPRISES'Ijust don't want to earn money for myself, Iwant to help other women too. Through socialenterprise I am earning and helping, and moreoverI am inspiring other women too.' - Surveyparticipant

'The cause I champion is more important to methan money. If money was more important, I'dgo for a dream job somewhere that pays welland gives multiple fringe benefits, and which Iwas offered last year, but I refused. This is why Ispearhead a social enterprise.' - Survey participant

As previously stated, 75 per cent of women

social entrepreneurs have started their ventureto achieve social impact. Although this is stillthe majority of women, it is markedly lowerthan in the four other countries we surveyedwhere consistently 95 per cent of women citedaddressing a social or environmental concernor benefitting their community as their primarymotivation. This suggests social enterprise isplaying an important additional role in Pakistan.

Twenty five per cent of women socialentrepreneurs start their social enterpriseeither to provide income, because it was thebest opportunity they had for a job or career,or to provide flexible working around familycommitments.

Balancing familial responsibilities is a significantchallenge for women in Pakistan (Rehman, &Roomi, 2012). Social enterprise can provide anopportunity for flexible working. Thirty one percent of women with care responsibilities saidthe prospect of 'flexible working around familycommitments' was a motivating factor in startinga social enterprise. A similar to percentage of men(36 per cent) also cited this as a motivation.

However, only 30 per cent of survey respondentsfelt social enterprise offered the most flexibleworking opportunities, which is less than in thecorporate sector. This suggests that women maybe choosing social enterprise not because it is themost flexible option, but because it is the mostflexible option available to them.

This is reinforced by our survey of the ambitionsof social entrepreneurs in Pakistan.

Fifty two per cent of women social entrepreneursin our survey say they would like to work in adifferent sector, with 26 per cent saying theywould like to work in the corporate sector. Thisis markedly higher than in all other countrieswe studied where nearly 95 per cent of socialentrepreneurs want to continue working in thesocial enterprise sector. This suggests that, inPakistan, social enterprise is playing an additionalrole in women's empowerment: it is providing anopportunity for employment or entrepreneurshipwhen those opportunities are not available in thefor-profit sector. It also suggests that for manywomen, social enterprise is not meeting theirneeds and aspirations as well as other sectorsmight, if they were accessible.

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6.3. BARRIERS FACING WOMEN What is interesting is that the data from our surveyand the data from the earlier British Councilmapping exercise show few significant differencesin the barriers reported by male and female socialentrepreneurs.

Twenty per cent of women reported lack ofbusiness advice/support as one of the majorreasons for lack of sustainability and scale.According to the respondents, finding mentorswho can guide or just refer to actionable solutionswas difficult.

Although women are better represented in socialentrepreneurship than for-profit entrepreneurship,there are still four times as many socialenterprises led by men as by women and, onaverage, social enterprises led by men are sixtimes larger than social enterprises led by womenin terms of turnover> This suggests that there arehuge differences in terms of the barriers facingmale and female social entrepreneurs.

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Almost 22 per cent of women found dealingwith taxes difficult and were often fearful ofintrusions by tax authorities and other possibleinterventions that would hinder their businessventures from scaling up. This finding is also linkedto the regulatory burden cited by 43 per cent ofthe female respondents who found that dealingwith government bureaucracy to obtain permitsand licences, for instance, was difficult. Theserisks can be mitigated through the government'spreferred partner policies. This can allow socialenterprises to operate under Pakistan's public-private partnership laws.

Many of the barriers to the success ofsocial enterprise were reported in similarproportions by men and women. What isstriking is that 50 per cent of women saidthat gender had an impact on the barriersthey faced as social entrepreneurs. Thedata provided through interviews and focusgroups supported this view that women faceconsiderably greater barriers than men.

Based on focus group discussions, the main socialand structural barriers facing women include theirlack of identity, financial stability and mobility.

6.3.1. FINANCE

Lack of capital is most often the highest barrierfor women in social enterprise (Mahmood,Sohail, Khalid, & Babak, 2012). Access to grantfunding was the most significant difference in theresponses of men and women in our survey, withalmost twice as many women as men reportingthis as a barrier.

Nearly 40 per cent of the surveyed socialenterprises have received donations and a thirdhave received grants from foundations. Very fewsocial enterprises received loans of any type.Surveys shows that female-led social enterprisesare more likely to have received donationsor grants, but none have indicated they havereceived commercial loans. Most commercialloans were awarded to male led ventures. Thosewho do not have access to commercial loans usetheir own personal savings as start-up funding.

Statistical analysis confirms that womenentrepreneurs predominately use their ownpersonal resources and social capital to fund

their social enterprise. Support from immediatefamily played a decisive role for the growth ofwomen-owned enterprises (Azarn, 2011). It showsthat most women who do start their own socialenterprises do so at their own expense or with thesupport of their family.

More research is needed to understand whywomen do not receive commercial loans. Oneexplanation may male-led social enterprises tendto be larger in scale, which makes them moreeligible to secure loans. It is a pattern that is alsoseen in the for-profit sector. Only three per centof women in Pakistan borrowed money to start orexpand a business, compared with 17 per cent ofmen.

It was recommended in the focus groups thatcentral banks should look into reasons whywomen-led social enterprises have difficultyaccessing capital.

6.3.2. CONFLICT BETWEEN DEMANDS OF FAMILY AND

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

Most women social entrepreneurs haveresponsibilities for caring for children or parents.Only 15 per cent of women report having nocaring responsibilities, compared to 38 per centof men.

Thirty one per cent of women cited the abilityto work flexibly as a key reason for startingtheir social enterprise, but a similar proportionreported conflicts between the demands of theirfamily commitments and the demands of theirsocial enterprise.

While high proportions of men also reportedconflicts between the demands of familycommitments and running a social enterprise,research shows that women bear by far thegreatest burden of childcare in Pakistan (Rehman,& Roomi, 2012).

6.3.3. GENDER PAY GAP

Thomson Reuters Foundation conducted researchwhich concluded that the social enterprise sectorin Pakistan has a gender wage gap, with menearning more than women. They ranked Pakistan30th out of the 44 largest economies in respect toequality of pay in social enterprise.

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Seventy nine per cent of respondents to oursurvey felt that other sectors were better atoffering men and women equal pay.

6.4. PROFILE OF WOMEN STARTING SOCIALENTERPRISES

Who are the women most likely to be involved insocial enterprise? A survey carried out by theILO(Goheer, 2003) found that women who runsocial enterprises tend to have a below-averagenumber of children and that 75 per cent aremarried. The same study also found that literacyrates among women social entrepreneurs are wellabove average and that many have diplomas andpost graduate degrees from upper tier academicinstitutions. More than half of the respondents hadattained a professional diploma before startingtheir social enterprise. The computer literacy ofthese women was also better than average.

These results are supported by our survey whichalso suggests that women social entrepreneursare better educated than most women inPakistan, and that many come from more affluentbackgrounds.

69 per cent had at least a comfortablestandard of living when growing up and 43per cent were better off than many in theircommunities. These proportions were similarfor men social entrepreneurs.

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69 per cent were still in education at the ageof 21, and only 15 per cent had left schoolbefore the age of 18. Again, these proportionswere similar for men social entrepreneurs;

50 per cent are not the main wage-earner intheir family, compared to 35 per cent of men.

These statistics suggest that the women whoare able to set up social enterprises have moreresources than many women in Pakistan. Thereis also, perhaps, a gender advantage for womenin that they are less likely to be dependent ondrawing a wage from their social enterprise,easing.the financial pressure on the venture.

As one survey participant expressed it, I am ableto work in social enterprise 'because I have othersources for my income and profit.'

6.5. IMPACT ON WOMEN SOCIALENTREPRENEURS

Becoming a social entrepreneur has both positiveand negative effects on women. On the whole,male and female social entrepreneurs experiencebroadly the same impact, and for both sexesthe positive impact appears to be considerablygreater:

71 per cent reported increased confidence

62 per cent of female social entrepreneursresponding to our survey said that starting a

31I

social enterprise had given them an increasedsense of self-worth.

However, 52 per cent of female socialentrepreneurs reported experiencing somenegative impact in setting up their socialenterprise.

The gender differences here are that more menreport taking on personal debt or experiencingfinancial insecurity, while more women (24 percent) experience violence or hostility at home.

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6.6. SUPPORTING WOMEN SOCIALENTREPRENEURS

Since social enterprise has a strongly positiveimpact on women's empowerment, this issomething that governments and otherstakeholders should support. One framework thatshould be considered is that offered by the GlobalEntrepreneurship Development Institute (GEDI)forfor-profit entrepreneurship.

Gender GEDIcategorise female for-profitentrepreneurs into six qroups=";

IIIPersonal debt or Experienced hostility or Experienced hostility or

financial insecurity violence in my violence in my home orcommunity family

Privileged entrepreneursDie-hard entrepreneursPromising entrepreneurs

Potential entrepreneursReluctant entrepreneursResistant entrepreneurs

They argue that any policy initiatives to encourageentrepreneurship should be aimed at the middletwo groups to have most impact. The top twogroups are likely to become entrepreneurs anyway;the bottom two groups are unlikely to do so evenwith interventions.

This approach would also be useful whenconsidering how to encourage women socialentrepreneurs. Further work is needed to identifythe characteristics of these groups for socialentrepreneurs however.

6.7. SUMMARY

When it comes to for-profit entrepreneurship inPakistan, less than five per cent of businesses areled by women. By contrast, 20 per cent of socialenterprises are led by women.

Women social entrepreneurs share manycharacteristics with for-profit entrepreneurs. Theyshare many of the same barriers and enablers.Their motivations are often different, as mostsocial entrepreneurs are driven almost entirely bya desire to create social impact.

Seventy five per cent of women in our surveystarted a social enterprise to address a socialor environmental concern, or to benefit theircommunity. However, 25 per cent did so purelyto earn an income, for career opportunity or forthe opportunity of flexible working. This is a muchhigher proportion than in all the other countrieswe studied. So while social impact is still theprimary motivation, many women are choosingsocial enterprise because they lack alternativeoptions.

Only 30 per cent of survey respondents felt thatsocial enterprise offered the best option forflexible employment - less than in the corporatesector. And yet thirty one per cent of womensocial entrepreneurs said that the prospect of'flexible working around family commitments' was

a motivating factor in starting a social enterprise.

The evidence suggests that many womenchoose social enterprise because other, morepreferable options, are not available to them.Fifty two per cent of women would like towork in a different sector, with 26 per centsaying they would like to work in the corporatesector.

Women social entrepreneurs face the samebarriers as their male counterparts, and alsoadditional barriers as a result of their gender.These include

prejudice and discriminationgender stereotypingbarriers to accessing funding and investmentgreater demands on time through home andfamily commitments.

Becoming a social entrepreneur has bothpositive and negative effects on women. Manyof the benefits of social entrepreneurship areexperienced by both men and women. However,those relating to financial independence andrespect within the family are markedly moreimpactful on women:

71 per cent reported increased confidence62 per cent that starting a social enterprisehad given them an increased sense of self-worth.

That said, 52 per cent of female socialentrepreneurs reported experiencing somenegative impact. One in four reportedexperiencing violence or hostility at home as aresult of starting a social enterprise.

Compared to for-profit entrepreneurship, socialentrepreneurship is likely to create higher ratesof social return for the community and society atlarge. .

Considering the UN's definition of women'sempowerment, social entrepreneurship canoffer women an important opportunity to'influence the direction of social change tocreate a more just social and economic order,nationally and internationally.' It also offersfinancial independence and increased agencyto proportionally more women than for-profitentrepreneurship. And it may provide a bridge intoemployment in other sectors.

7. The impact of the social enterprisesector as an employer

As we have seen, many social enterprisesempower women as 'beneficiaries' of theirservices. Social enterprises empower the womenentrepreneurs who set them up. And many socialenterprises also create jobs that empower thewomen who work in them.

There are three important questions to consideras we evaluate the impact of social enterpriseemployment on women's empowerment:

Are proportionally more women employed insocial enterprise than other sectors?Are the jobs created good jobs?Do the jobs created challenge or reinforcegender stereotypes?

7.1. FEMALE PROPORTION OF SOCIALENTERPRISE WORKFORCE

At 29 per cent, the proportion of female full-timeemployees in social enterprises is higher than the22 per cent in the wider economy in Pakistan=and significantly higher than in small and mediumenterprises where only eight per cent of full timeemployees are female (World Bank, 2013).

Furthermore, many of the women employedby social enterprises are from particularlydisadvantaged backgrounds and would nototherwise find employment.

There may be a number of reasons why the socialenterprise sector employs proportionally morewomen:

Many participants of both sexes felt thatwomen are more drawn to work with a socialbenefit. The same trend of greater femalerepresentation is also seen in employment inthe NGOsector in Pakistan.Social enterprises are over-representedin industries in which women are over-represented such as health care andeducation.As we have already noted, social enterpriseis seen as providing more flexible work thanother sectors, which is attractive to women. A

large number of jobs in the social enterprisesector are part-time for example, and 50 percent of these are occupied by wornen=.And, perhaps most significantly, socialenterprise is seen as more acceptable forwomen, and therefore women are able to findopportunities in this sector which they cannotin others.

7.2. ARE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE JOBS GOODJOBS?

Social enterprise jobs are perhaps best spilt intotwo broad categories:

jobs specifically for beneficiaries - i.e.jobsdeliberately created to employ someonedisadvantaged in the labour marketjobs NOTspecifically for beneficiaries -i.e. those needed simply to run the socialenterprise.

7.2.1. JOBS FOR BENEFICIARIES

Those jobs created specifically for beneficiariesare typically entry-level jobs to provideemployment for people who would otherwisebe unemployed. Thirty eight per cent of socialenterprises in our survey said that if they didnot employ them, their workforce would eitherbe unemployed or working elsewhere in worseconditions and for less pay.

Whilst the jobs provided may only be entry level,training and development is typically involved.Eighty four per cent of social enterprisesresponding to our survey that cited creatingemployment as one of their areas of impact onwomen also cited developing skills.

The evidence suggests that jobs created by socialenterprises specifically for beneficiaries are likelyto be better jobs than those available through for-profit businesses.

7.2.2. JOBS NOT SPECIFICALLY FOR BENEFICIARIES

Jobs in the social enterprise sector that are not

created specifically for beneficiaries can be lowerpaid than comparable ones in other sectors,notably in the public and corporate sectors.

Eighty six per cent of respondents thought othersectors offer better employee benefits such asmaternity pay and 79 per cent felt other sectorsoffered more equal pay.

The area in which the social enterprise sectordid perform strongly was equal opportunity, inparticular opportunities for women in leadership.Sixty three per cent of respondents felt socialenterprise offered the best opportunities forwomen leaders. The NGOsector was second withonly 18 per cent of respondents saying that itoffered the best opportunities for women leaders.

As we have already seen, fifty two per cent ofwomen responding to our survey said they wouldlike to work in a different sector. In some regardssocial enterprise is offering better jobs for womenthan other sectors, but certainly not in all.

7.3. DO SOCIAL ENTERPRISE JOBSREINFORCE GENDER STEREOTYPES?

Only 34 per cent of our survey respondentsbelieve social enterprises are challenging gendernorms in Pakistan.

'Social enterprises are challenging gender norms.People have started acknowledging the role ofwomen in entrepreneurship.' - Survey participant

Thirteen per cent felt they were reinforcinggender norms.

'Honestly, I don't see very many social enterprisesworking for women's empowerment. None of themare breaking the gender barrier where a womanis given a sewing machine to make things betteror more recently what the Punjab Governmentsuggested giving a rooster and hens to girls sothey can learn about breeding chickens to make aliving. It's always low-end, low-paying menial tasksthat are reserved for women.' - Survey participant

And the rest felt they were doing both or neither.

In the for-profit sector women are over-represented in low-paid jobs particularly intextiles, crafts and agriculture, and under-represented in manufacturing and tech, forexample. In social enterprise, we also see a similardegree of gender segregation.

Surveyed social enterprises in Pakistan focused

on mainly two sectors: education and healthand social care. Few social enterprises work inforestry, transport or manufacturing. Women aremore likely to work in the health sector than men(50 per cent compared to 34 per cent), and insocial care sector (30 per cent compared to 20per cent). By contrast, women are less likely tobe involved in agriculture and fisheries (three percent compared to 12 per cent) (British Council,2013).

Women who operate in traditionally femalesectors are often found to have the highest socialcapital. In contrast, women who work in traditionalmale sectors have lower levels of social capital,trust, and community engagement (Sappleton,2009). This suggests that social enterprisesworking in traditionally male sectors need to workextra hard to develop the social capital of theirfemale workforce.

7.4. SECTION SEVEN CONCLUSION

The social enterprise sector employsproportionally more women than the workforceas a whole, and more than the private sector.Furthermore, many of the women employedby social enterprises are from particularlydisadvantaged backgrounds - e.g. as a resultof through poverty or abuse - and would nototherwise find employment.

For those disadvantaged in the labour market,social enterprise generally offers betteremployment opportunities than those availablein the private sector. But for those in leadershipand management positions, pay and conditionsin the social enterprise sector can be lower thanin other sectors. Also, as in the wider economy,there is a substantial gender pay gap with menearning more than women. Fifty two per cent ofwomen social entrepreneurs would like to work ina different sector.

The social enterprise sector generally conformsto the same gender segregation as the widereconomy in each country, with women better-represented in lower-paid sectors such astextiles and agriculture, and even more under-represented in higher-paying sectors suchas tech, for example. One reason the socialenterprise sector may have a relatively highproportion of women staff is that there is a highproportion of social enterprises operating intraditionally female sectors.

35

resources and investment should be facused anencauraging social enterprises to. tackle issues afgender inequality and women's empawerment.

While social enterprise does affer significantopportunities far women's empawerment inPakistan, there remain inequalities within thesector itself that need to. be addressed as well.

8. ConclusionWamen and girls in Pakistan face challengesbased purely an their gender, including unequalopportunities at work, unequal expectations athorne and an unequal risk of violence.

Social enterprise affers several opportunities to.address this gender inequality:

it can provide a mare sustainable approach to.women's empawerment than grant dependentarganisatiansit affers a proven, effective means to.supportvulnerable or disadvantaged wamen into.emplayment and to.tackle many of the specificchallenges facing wamen and girls todayit provides an opportunity far wamen to.'influence the direction of social change to.create a mare just social and economic order,nationally and internatianally'it offers mare opportunities far women'sentrepreneurship and leadership -opportunities that are aften mare culturallyacceptable than for-profit businessit creates proportionally mare jabs far wamenthan the far-profit sector, particularly far thosedisadvantaged in the labour market.

There is a need hawever far the gavernment to.recagnise, support and incentivise this sectorso.that it can flaurish. In order to. realise theopportunities in the social enterprise sector, mare

Wamen social entrepreneurs face greaterbarriers than their male counterparts,including prejudice and discriminatian.There is a significant gender pay gap in thesocial enterprise sector and fewer benefitsthat are significant to.wamen such asmaternity pay.Social enterprise demanstrates the samegender segregatian seen in ather areas af theeconomy with wamen aver-represented in law-paying sectors such as educatian and care,and under-represented in well-paid sectorssuch as construction and tech.

Furthermare there is evidence that many wamenare chaasing social entrepreneurship becausethey are not able to. access careers in preferredsectors.

Gavernments, funders, investors andintermediaries also.have an important role to. playin addressing these inequalities.

9. RecommendationsBased on our research, and particularly onthe discussions of our focus group of socialenterprise and women's empowermentsexperts, we have drawn together somerecommendations to increase the effectivenessof social enterprise as a model for supportingwomen's empowerment. These are grouped intorecommendations for governments and policymakers, funders and investors, social enterprisesand intermediaries, and the private sector. Someof the recommendations apply to one or moregroup, and all stakeholders need to work togetherto ensure the successful implementation of theserecommendations.

The importance of applying a gender lens iscritical as is including both men and women in theconversation.

9.1. RECOMMENDATIONS FORGOVERNMENT AND POLICY MAKERS

Many of the barriers facing female socialentrepreneurs are the same as those facingmale social entrepreneurs. Some of theserecommendations will be of equal benefit to both.

Governments should bear in mind that anypolicies to support women's employment willactively support the social enterprise sector,which has a disproportionately high femaleworkforce. Equally, any policies that support thesocial enterprise sector will support women'sempowerment in Pakistan. The simplification andeasing of the tax and regulatory regime for smalland medium enterprises would also benefit socialenterprises managed by women (Ahmed et al2015).

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE WORKING GROUP

The Government should set up anintergovernmental social enterprise workinggroup led by the Planning Commission. Thisshould have representation from both federaland provincial governments, SECP,FBR,NCSW, provincial planning and developmentdepartments, as well as representativesfrom the social enterprise sector to frame

recommendations to the federal government.

The working group should have cross sectorrepresentation with stakeholders frombusiness, government, academia, policy think-tanks and social enterprises. It should ensurethat the voices of women social entrepreneursare proactively included and work towardsgender balance.

The working group should have a specificremit to look at the particular challengesfacing women social entrepreneurs and theopportunities for social enterprise to addressgender inequality and women's empowermentin Pakistan.

In addition, the Securities and ExchangeCommission of Pakistan (SECP) should alsoconvene a meeting with social entrepreneursto see how company rules may be modified tosupport the cause of these entrepreneurs. Asingle window system for social enterprisesshould be established, online or physically,so they do not need to pay separate visits toSECP, Federal Board of Revenue and provincialrevenue authorities.

DEFINITION

The government should look to recognisea formal definition of social enterprise tofacilitate understanding of its benefits tosociety, and specifically to women, withingovernment and wider society.

The government should create a specific legalstructure that could be adopted by socialenterprises, such as the Community InterestCompany in the UK.

GOVERNMENT CENTRE FOR SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

The Planning Commission should immediatelyoperationalise the Centre for SocialEnterprise, which was already approved bythe Departmental Development Working Party.This Centre should ensure that the supportrequired by women social entrepreneurs ismade widely available.

All provincial governments should follow the

example of the federal Planning Commissionand establish a Centre for Social Enterprise atthe departments of planning and developmentin the provincial capitals. These centres will actas a knowledge repository for those seekinghelp from government departments and alsoensure that reforms and fiscal incentivesfor women-led social enterprise are part ofprovincial growth strategies as well as annualprovincial budgets and annual developmentplans.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Given the low number of social enterprises inagriculture processing or small scale industry/manufacturing, the Ministry of Industriesand Production should conduct a review ofavailable support to social enterprises andmake a case to the Ministry of Finance foran enhanced fiscal package. This might, forexample, be through the Export DevelopmentFund for social enterprises having exportpotential, or via state-funded loans through theNational Bank of Pakistan, along similar linessimilar to the textile or the fiscal packagesprovided to the agricultural sector.The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)shouldconduct an urgent study on the difficultiesfaced by women social entrepreneurs inaccessing funding from commercial banksand other scheduled financial institutions.Drawing on that study, SBPcan then work toremove the impediments faced by womenentrepreneurs in obtaining loans.

EXPORT

The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan(TDAP)should consider exempting women-ledsocial enterprises with export potential frompaying a foreign exhibition fee. The products ofsuch women-led social enterprises should bepromoted by TDAPin all exhibitions abroad.SMEDAshould also subsidise the participationcosts for social enterprises, particularlywomen-led social enterprises, in local orinternational trade fairs. The focus should notjust be on marketing final products but findingways for these enterprises to become part ofregional supply chains.

PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

The government should introduce preferredprocurement or a fixed quota for women-ledsocial enterprises in public procurement. ThePublic Procurement Regulatory Authorityshould meet with social entrepreneurs todiscuss priority areas and also conduct adetailed study on the socio-economic benefitsof having such an arrangement. The samestudy can outline methods by which female-led social enterprises in various sectors maybenefit from public procurement.

The government should also consider ways toincentivise social enterprise procurement bythe private sector.

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE EDUCATION

Governments and social enterprisesshould work in partnership to increasethe prevalence of social entrepreneurshipeducation in schools, including a specificfocus on addressing gender inequality. Thisshould begin in primary school.

This programme should prioritise workingwith girls and increasing business skills,confidence and the social acceptability offemale entrepreneurship.

Public awareness of social enterprises canalso be increased through school, collegeand university curricula by incorporating anemphasis on social entrepreneurship.

FACILITATE THE WORK OF FUNDERS, INVESTORS ANDINTERMEDIARIES

Governments should look to facilitate therecommendations for social enterpriseintermediaries, and funders and investors(below), through policies, convening, and theprovision of finance.

Governments should also ensure coordinatedand effective communication of the supportand funding available for social enterprises.This communication should be especiallytargeted at women to help reduce the gendergap in social entrepreneurship.

9.2. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SOCIALENTERPRISES AND SUPPORTORGANISATIONS

Many of the recommendations for the socialenterprise sector will also require supportfrom government and/or funders.

WOMEN'S SOCIAL ENTERPRISE NETWORKS

Facilitate networking between gender-focusedsocial enterprises and women's organisationsnationally and internationally with a viewto sharing best practice and replicatingsuccessful models. In particular this shouldlook at supporting women's organisations touse social enterprise as a tool to empowerwomen and achieve financial sustainability.Create a Women's Social Enterprise Chamberof Commerce to increase the peer supportavailable specifically for women socialentrepreneurs and board members.

TRAINING FOR WOMEN SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS

Work in partnership with provincial governmentsto assess training needs and provide appropriatetraining for women social entrepreneurs. Thisshould focus particularly on:

financial literacybusiness planningbusiness skillsbitching for funding and investmenttechnology.

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE INCUBATORS AND ACCELERATORS

Establish social enterprise incubatorsspecifically for women. These could becross-sector, supporting social and for-profitenterprises.Online accelerator programmes could also beestablished, including a programme marketedspecifically at women social entrepreneurs.These will have a greater reach than individualincubators, although the anticipated successrate will be lower.With the aim of having 50 percent femalebeneficiaries, the YESnetwork could workspecifically to support women who own socialenterprises.

INCREASE AWARENESS

Make effective use of media andcommunications to ensure women socialentrepreneurs are seen and heard.Ensure a gender-balanced portrayal of socialenterprise in the media in order for the socialvalue created by both female and male socialentrepreneurs to be recognised.

CHALLENGES AND COMPETITIONS

Instigate competitions to start socialenterprises specifically to tackle genderinequality and women's empowerment,offering an appropriate mix of grant, equityand loan finance, and mentoring and supportto the winning enterprises.These could be cross-sector and potentiallyfocus on those at the Bottom of the Pyramid(BoP).

ADDRESS OPPORTUNITIES AND EQUAL PAY

Social enterprises in Pakistan should carefullyexamine the gender balance of their workforceand the pay offered to male and femaleemployees. Social enterprise should be leadingthe way in gender equality. However, 79 percent of survey respondents felt that othersectors offered more equal pay.

9.3. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUNDERSAND INVESTORS

Funders and investors in Pakistan must recognisethe value of gender equality in social enterpriseand the additional barriers facing women socialentrepreneurs trying to access grants, loans orequity.

GENDER LENS TO INVESTING

Gender lens investing is the practice of investingfor social and/or financial return while alsoconsidering the benefits to women. Many arguethat adding a gender lens to investing can helppromote female led social enterprises and providerole models for women.

Use a 'gender lens' when making investmentdecisions; understand the additional barriersfaced by women social entrepreneurs and the

strengths of women-led social enterprises.Provide training for funders and investors tounderstand the differences between male andfemale social entrepreneurs and the potentialof women-led social enterprises.Set specific targets for a funding orinvestment portfolio that is balanced forgender. Consider launching products orservices that are specifically targeted atunder-represented sectors of the population.

WOMEN INVESTORS AND FUNDERS

Globally there is a shortage of female investors.Our recommendations are to:

set targets to ensure a greater gender balancein the boards and senior leadership teams offunders and social investorsensure a gender balance in all panels makinglending and investment decisions

record and publish data on the level ofinvestment into male and female-led socialenterprises, the gender composition ofleadership teams and boards, and the impactof those investmentsconsciously use language that will notalienate women social entrepreneurs whencommunicating about products and services.Engage with specialist women's socialenterprise and business intermediaries tosupport this and to promote products andservices specifically to women.

ENCOURAGE GENDER EQUALITY AND WOMEN'SEMPOWERMENT AMONGST INVESTEES

Funders and investors should set criteria forsocial enterprises to meet before receiving agrant or investment including:

have gender-balanced boardsrecord and measure their social andenvironmental impact and include genderequality as a metric.

RAISE THE PROFILE OF WOMEN ROLE MODELS

Promote and celebrate the role of womenas social investors and women as socialentrepreneurs.

SPECIFIC FUNDING PRIORITIES

Support social entrepreneurship to becomeembedded in the curricula and ethos ofschools and higher education institutions.Promote strategic research and collaborationopportunities as well as a social enterpriseschools programme.Support in setting up a women chamber ofsocial enterprises - a key recommendationduring our focus group discussions.

9.4- RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE PRIVATESECTOR

The private sector can playa crucial role indeveloping social enterprise, and in particularwomen's social enterprise in Pakistan by:

collaborating directly or indirectly withalready established women social enterprises.This can be done through corporate socialresponsibility initiatives or other mechanismsoffering creative forms of support andsponsorship for women social enterpriseswithin their own business sector (e.g.marketing and advertising campaigns forwomen social enterprises)providing mentoring in select areas of socialbusinessesproviding representation on the boards ofwomen social enterprises to provide strategicguidancepurchasing products and services from socialenterprises for their business operations ormarketing campaigns, and encouraging theinclusion of social enterprises in their supplychains. This can be done through preferredprocurement from women social enterprises.

Ahmed, V. et ai, Social Enterprise Landscape in Pakistan, British Council, [website], https:!/www.britishcouncil.org/sites/defaultlfiles/social_enterprise_landscape_in_pakistan.pdf.

Ahmed, V., M. Talpur, S. Liaqat (2015) Towards a fair and just fiscal policy in Pakistan. Issue briefing, 5June 2015, OXFAM GB.

Ahmed, V., A.Q. Suleri and A. Javed (2015) Strengthening South Asia Value Chain: Prospects andChallenges. South Asia Economic Journal, Vol 16, Issue 2_suppl, 2015.

Ahmed, V. and M. Talpur (2016) Corporate Tax Reforms in Pakistan. Working paper 155. SustainableDevelopment Policy Institute

Ahmed, V. (2016b) Social enterprises and development. The News on Sunday, October 30, 2016.

Ahmed, V. (2016c) A budget for jobs. The News on Sunday, March 20, 2016.

Ahmed, V. (2016d) Capacity building of human resources and services sector: Improving educationand technical skills, using innovation and ICT. Chapter in the book: Building knowledge basedeconomy in Pakistan - Learning from best practices. Islamabad Policy Research Institute.

Ahmed, V. and M. Adnan (2014) Energy and Tax Reforms: Household Analysis from Pakistan.Sustainable Development Policy Institute.

Ahmed, V. and A. Naqvi (2016) Tax Reforms in Punjab. Policy brief 53, Sustainable Development PolicyInstitute.

Ahmed, V. and S. Shabbir (2016) Trade & Transit Cooperation with Afghanistan: Results from a

Firm-level survey from Pakistan. Working paper 153, Sustainable Development Policy Institute.

Shabbir, S. and V. Ahmed (2015) Trade with Iran. Criterion Quarterly, October-December 2015.

Shabbir, S and Ahmed, V 2015 Welfare Impacts of Afghan Trade on the Pakistani Provinces ofBalochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Stability: International Journal of Security & Development, 4(1):6, pp. 1-16, DOl: http://dx.doi.org/l 0.5334/sta.et

Azam, M. & Parrott, G. (2008) "Barrier to Development and Progression of Women Entrepreneurs inPakistan", The Journal of Entrepreneurship, vol. 17, no. 1,2008, pp. 59-72.

Azam, M. (2011) "Entrepreneurial capital, social values and Islamic traditions: Exploring the growth ofwomen-owned enterprises in Pakistan", International Small Business Journal, vel. 31, no. 2, 2011, pp.175-191.

Ali, B. & Darko, E., Grants, incubators and innovation: a snapshot of social enterprise activity inPakistan, London, Overseas Development Institute, 2015.

British Council, (2016). Social Enterprise in a Global Context: The role of Higher education Institutions.Country Brief: Pakistan. Accessible online: https:!/www.britishcouncil.org/sites/defaultlfiles/pakistan_-_social_enterprise_in_a_global_context_-_final_report.pdf

Khaliq, CA., Rehman, M., Shaukat, S., Aslam, N., & Amin, M. (2015). Gender Differences of SocialNetworking in SME's: An explanatory Study of Pakistan. MAGNT Research Report. Vol. 3(9). PP. 325-335. DOl: dx.doi.org/14.9831 /1444-8939.2015/3-9/MRR.26. Accessible online: http://brisjast.com/wp-contentluploads/2016/01/MRR-Dec.-08-20151.pdf

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ENDNOTES

http://reports. weforum.org/global-gender -gap-report· 201 61ii. For small and medium businesses. only two per cent of borrowers are women.iii. http://data.worldbank.org/indicatorISL.TLF.TOTL.FE.ZSiv. http://reports. weforum.org/global-gender -gap-report -201 61v. For small and medium businesses, only two per cent of borrowers are women.vi. https:!/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_oCPakistanvii. http://www. worldbank.org/en/country Ipakistan/overviewviii. https:llwww.theguardian.com/news/datablogI20 1O/apr /1 2/maternal-mortality-rates-millennium-development -goalsix. http://asia pacific.unwomen .orgl en/countries/pakistan/weel employment -and-earningsx. http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/countries/pakistan/weeIfinancial-and-physical-capitalxi. Ibid

xii. http://www2.u nwomen.org/-/med ia/field%2 00ffice%2 Oeseasia/docs/publ ications/20 16/0S/pk -wee-status-report -Iowres.pdf?la=en&vs=S731

xiii. http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey/chapters_16/12_Population.pdfxiv. http://www2 .unwome n.orgl -/med ia/fi eId%2Ooffice%2Oeseasial docsl publicati onsl2 0 16/0 S/pk-wee-statu s-repo rt -Iowres.

pdf?la=en&vs=S731xv. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/featuresI2016/03/docthers-pakistan-empowering-female-doctors-160328143049724.htmlxvi. https:!/www.britishcounci I.org/sites/defaultlfi les/bc-report -chS-pakistan-digita 1_0.pdfxvii. http://i.dell.com/sites/doccontenti corporate/secure/en/Documents/Gender -GEDI-Full-Report -20 14.pdfxvii i. http://data. worldbank.org/i ndicator ISL.TLF.TOTL.FE.ZSxix. https:! Iwww.brit ishcounci1.0rg/s itesl defauItlfi Ies/bc -repo rt -ch5-pakistanodigita1_0.pdfxx. http://microfinanceconnect.info/assets/articles/a 7248cfa4 11a3407 4d03aafd4ed7 cd6c.pdf

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