History

Consequent to post 18th amendment in the Constitution, and provincial governments developed
a renewed focus on issues pertaining to women. The department of Women Development was
established in 2012 to ensure women empowerment and for developing enabling environment for
the women. Since its creation, the department, in a collaborated effort with all other departments,
framed Punjab Women Empowerment Initiatives in line with that of 2012 for ensuring women
empowerment and equality in true letter and spirit and to attain the following outcomes:

 Provisioning of support services like financial assistance, technical training, social uplift,
etc.

 Universal access to justice

 Preventive measures to curb Violence, in any form, against women

 Working with civil society and communities to eliminate discriminatory behaviors &
attitudes

 Availability of ample opportunities to improve socio-political-economic status of women

 Achievement of Gender equality and equity in real terms

Vision
A gender- sensitive Punjab, where women and men enjoy equity and equality in all walks of life;
women and girls are able to fulfill their roles towards achieving and enjoying individual and
collective well-being, development and prosperity without any explicit or implicit
discrimination.

Mission
To provide an enabling women development framework which supports inclusive governance
and development in Punjab. The purpose of which is to ensure equal rights and opportunities for
women, alongside men, at the level of family, community, workplace and across all state
apparatus.

Goal
To eliminate and systematically eradicate all manifestations of explicit and implicit gender
discrimination across all spheres of society including governance, development and livelihood.
1. What was the main focus of the provincial governments after the post-18th amendment in the
Constitution?
a. Infrastructure development b. Women empowerment c. Agricultural reforms d. Educational
enhancements
Answer: b. Women empowerment
2. When was the Department of Women Development established?
a. 2005 b. 2010 c. 2012 d. 2015
Answer: c. 2012
3. What is the primary purpose of the Punjab Women Empowerment Initiatives?
a. Promoting environmental sustainability b. Ensuring financial stability for men c. Achieving
women empowerment and equality d. Enhancing technological advancements
Answer: c. Achieving women empowerment and equality
4. In collaboration with other departments, the Women Development Department aims to provide
support services such as:
a. Environmental conservation b. Financial assistance, technical training, and social uplift c.
Military training for women d. Cultural awareness programs
Answer: b. Financial assistance, technical training, and social uplift
5. What is one of the outcomes targeted by the Punjab Women Empowerment Initiatives?
a. Increased tax rates b. Universal access to justice c. Reduction in educational opportunities d.
Promotion of gender discrimination
Answer: b. Universal access to justice
6. What is the main preventive measure emphasized by the initiatives?
a. Curbing economic growth b. Curbing violence against women in any form c. Promoting
discriminatory behaviors d. Ignoring civil society engagement
Answer: b. Curbing violence against women in any form
7. The initiatives aim to work with civil society and communities to eliminate:
a. Financial disparities b. Discriminatory behaviors & attitudes c. Technological advancements d.
Political activism
Answer: b. Discriminatory behaviors & attitudes
8. What is the vision outlined for Punjab in terms of gender sensitivity?
a. A province with strict laws against women b. A gender-neutral society c. A gender-sensitive
Punjab d. A province promoting gender inequality
Answer: c. A gender-sensitive Punjab
9. According to the mission, what is the purpose of the enabling women development framework?
a. Promoting exclusive governance b. Ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women c.
Excluding women from development initiatives d. Focusing solely on men's well-being
Answer: b. Ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women
10. What is the ultimate goal of the Women Development Department?
a. Promoting gender discrimination b. Achieving gender equality and equity c. Ignoring women's
rights d. Focusing on men's empowerment
Answer: b. Achieving gender equality and equity
11. In what spheres of society does the department aim to eliminate gender discrimination?
a. Only in educational institutions b. Only in the workplace c. Across all spheres of society d.
None of the above
Answer: c. Across all spheres of society
12. According to the vision, what is the desired state for women and men in Punjab?
a. Strict gender roles b. Equal rights and opportunities c. Gender-based discrimination d.
Exclusive focus on men's well-being
Answer: b. Equal rights and opportunities
13. What term is used to describe the envisioned Punjab where women and men enjoy equity and
equality?
a. Gender-blind b. Gender-neutral c. Gender-sensitive d. Gender-biased
Answer: c. Gender-sensitive
14. What is the primary mission of the Women Development Department in Punjab?
a. Promoting gender-based discrimination b. Supporting inclusive governance and development
c. Ignoring women's rights d. Focusing solely on men's development
Answer: b. Supporting inclusive governance and development
15. The overall goal of the Women Development Department is to systematically eradicate:
a. Poverty b. Gender discrimination c. Educational opportunities d. Civil rights
Answer: b. Gender discrimination
16. What does the department aim to ensure at the level of family, community, workplace, and
across all state apparatus?
a. Exclusivity for men b. Equal rights and opportunities for women, alongside men c. Gender-
based discrimination d. Promoting discriminatory behaviors
Answer: b. Equal rights and opportunities for women, alongside men
17. According to the information provided, what is NOT a focus area of the Women Development
Department?
a. Financial assistance b. Social uplift c. Military training for women d. Technical training
Answer: c. Military training for women
18. What is the primary purpose of the enabling women development framework?
a. Promoting gender discrimination b. Achieving economic growth c. Ensuring equal rights and
opportunities for women d. Excluding women from development initiatives
Answer: c. Ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women
19. The Punjab Women Empowerment Initiatives were framed in collaboration with:
a. International organizations only b. All other departments c. Men's organizations only d.
Exclusively with the Women Development Department
Answer: b. All other departments
20. According to the provided information, what is the overall aim of the Women Development
Department?
a. Excluding women from societal development b. Achieving gender discrimination c. Promoting
exclusive governance d. Eliminating gender discrimination across all spheres of society
Answer: d. Eliminating gender discrimination across all spheres of society

Functions

Our functions, under the Punjab Government Rules of Business, 2011 are as following:

 Legislation, policy formulation and sectoral planning for women development

  Transformation of the government into an organization that actively practices and
promotes gender equality and women empowerment

 Implementation of administrative and institutional reforms and departmental restructuring

for promoting gender equality

 Mainstreaming gender equality perspective across public policies, laws, programs, and
projects by departments and agencies of the government with a focus on women
empowerment

 Promotion, coordination and monitoring of execution of national and provincial policies

and commitments on gender reforms and women development

 Provision of technical support and expertise for gender mainstreaming in all departments
of the government and its agencies

 Expansion of investment in women’s socio-political and economic development to

achieve the goal of gender equity

 Collection of quantitative and qualitative data and conducting of research on the status of
women in the Punjab to highlight issues at appropriate forum

 Building of partnership with line departments, non-governmental and civil society

organizations to deliver on the rights and entitlement of women

 Pursuance of means and measures to increase participation of women in political process

and encouragement of effective representation of women in political and administrative
spheres

 Collaboration with legal, judicial, law enforcement and other relevant governmental and
non-government agencies to facilitate women’s access to formal legal and justice system

 Our Messages


Establishment of Women Development Department demonstrates state’s strong commitment to the

cause of gender equity and female empowerment. This department is striving to adopt strategies that
work best to foster gender mainstreaming. Women’s empowerment has internationally been
recognized as the most effective driver of socio-economic development. Achievement of Sustainable
Development Goals is directly linked to inclusion of females in every walk of national life. SDG-5
specifically focuses on gender empowerment.
Women’s socio-economic participation is not possible without eliminating various vectors of
disadvantage, which begin at birth and increase over the span of a woman’s life. Hence, it becomes
government’s responsibility not only to help women understand the barriers they are confronted with,
but also help them overcame these obstacles through legislation, policy formulation, promoting best
practices, affirmative action and advocacy.
While pledging to promote women rights on behalf of Government of the Punjab, I would also like to
invite everyone to come forward and embrace the agenda for gender equality which is a cross-cutting
and inter-sectoral theme and needs reinforcement from all players including public & private sector,
academia and practitioners, NGOs and Development Partners. For creation of such synergies,
Women Development Department is here to provide a platform to bring everyone together, and to act
as a catalyst to stimulate the social change.
Core Team

Ms. Sumaira Samad

Secretary

Ms. Rizwana Urooj Bhatti

Additional Secretary

(Chief Public Information Officer)

Hafiz Muhammad Najeeb

Deputy Secretary

(Admn) Hafiz Ubaidulllah Zakria

Deputy Secretary

(Planning)

Ahsan Ali

Section Officer

(General) Ms. Sajida Abdul Sattar

Section Officer

(Technical)
Muhammad Ramzan

Section Officer

(Planning & Budgeting) Muhammad Ijaz

Section Officer

(Coordination)

Assia Shafiq

Law Officer

(Public Information Officer) Sulaman Anwar

Programmer

Organogram
Governing Laws
Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010
 Punjab Commission on the Status of Women Act, 2014
 Punjab Women Development Policy

Our Societies
Punjab Day Care Fund Society
The Punjab Day Care Fund (PDCF) Society established by the Government of Punjab was registered
under the “Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860” on December 7, 2012. The Society is tasked to
establish Day Care Centres (DCCs) on international standards in public and private sector
organizations in order to facilitate working women of the Institutions. Directorate of Women
Development (DWD), Punjab (Secretariat PDCF Society) is mandated to disburse funds in order to
establish DCCs across Punjab.
Objectives

 Prepare and execute policies for the establishment of Day Care Centres (DCCs) at
workplaces to support working women
 Disburse grant through open mechanism to public organization, (NPOs), (NGOs) and
(CBOs)
 Develop operational guidelines and standards for DCCs
 Coordinate similar activities for the empowerment of women in public private mode
 Expand and revitalize the existing DCCs
 Promote research on the concept and need of DCCs in the Punjab
 Undertake surveys of DCCs to prepare an inventory of their resources, identify finance and
man power, take measures to monitor, improve and supplement performance

Financial Guidelines

 Assistance is provided as per PDCF Society (Finance and Audit) Rules, 2012
 Assistance is for the period of one year only
 Funding is on co-finance basis. 70:30
 (70% cost provided by the PDCF Society & 30% cost is to be borne by the applicant)
o Funds to be used for operational expenditure and for the purchase of specified list of
equipment only
o Funds cannot be used for brick and mortar

PDCF Society - Accomplishments

2013 - 2021

 Established DCCs: 221

 Operational DCCs: 156
 To Be Operational DCCs (Funds Released): 63
 Total Kids Benefitted (Est): 9,917
 Total Families Benefitted (Est): 7,350
 Total Jobs Created (Est): 935

Documents

 Established Day Care Centers

 Operational Day Care Centers
 3-Fold Of PDCF Society English | Urdu
 Application Forms
o Public Sector
o Private Sector
o Annex A,B Applicable to Serial No. I, II
o Guideline and Standards Day Care Centers
Punjab Working Women Endowment Fund Society
Article # 11 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
clearly stipulates that State Parties shall take all measures to eliminate discrimination against women
in the field of employment. Under CEDAW, the state is under obligation to make special provisions
for women not only to gain employment but also by providing facilities, on equal basis with men

Attached Departments
 Women Development Department

Attached Department
 Directorate of Women Development Punjab

Special Institution
 Punjab Commission on the Status of Women