Day: October 18, 2012

LAHORE: Additional District and Sessions Judge Abdul Qayyum has granted pre-arrest bail to actress Khushbukht alias Sofia Mirza and her sister Maryum Mirza, who are accused of abduction. The sisters submitted that the charges against them were fabricated and they had nothing to do with the abduction of a female college student.

The court granted them bail at Rs50,000 each until October 25. The abduction case was registered on the complaint of Rukhsana Zahid, the mother of the victim, Fatima. She told the police that her daughter had gone to college on October 12 and not been seen since.

She said she had obtained a record of calls made by Fatima from her mobile phone company and it turned out that she had been in contact with Sofia and Maryum Mirza. She said she had asked the sisters about her daughter, but they had refused to tell her anything. She said Sofia Mirza had later called her and threatened her.

The Express Tribune

KARACHI: All political parties must rise above their ideological differences and ensure that no woman eligible to cast her vote in the next elections is deprived of her right guaranteed under the constitution of Pakistan.

Participants of a program organised by Aurat Foundation to commemorate National Voters Day here on Wednesday also appealed to the national as well as provincial election commissioners for timely and adequate arrangements facilitating women, particularly those from tribal areas, to be part of the polls. “They must not only be allowed to cast their votes without any pressure or fear but should also be given tickets for winning seats,” said Rubina Brohi.

Political workers, activists and former women councilors present on the occasion also expressed their support for local bodies system. in the country as this ensured public representation at the grass-root levels.They, however, said that the procedure at every phase must be transparent and all stakeholders must be involved for their explicit opinion in the process.

The Nation

ISLAMABAD: Only one out of every four women entrepreneurs in Pakistan is a microfinance borrower as most businesswomen rely on savings, personal assets and family loans for starting or expanding a business, shows a latest study of the World Bank.

The WB in its report, “Are Pakistan’s Women Entrepreneurs Being Served by the Microfinance Sector”, also highlights the discriminatory lending practices in the country that are pushing women entrepreneurs to look beyond microfinance providers for loans.

The report also finds that loans do not always benefit women borrowers. Men, who need loans, including those who have defaulted in the past, have begun to use women to access credit. Between 50% to 70% of microloans to women may actually be used by their male relatives, it adds. In such cases, women borrowers remain wholly accountable for the loans.

“Access to finance remains one of the biggest challenges for Pakistani women, who want to start and grow a business,” says Rachid Benmessaoud, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan.

He said the strict guarantor requirements and the practice of offering business loan products exclusively to men have only widened the gap between Pakistani businesswomen and the microfinance sector.

The study finds that microfinance loans for businesses are largely unavailable to women entrepreneurs, especially unmarried women who are considered high-risk borrowers. The requirement by loan providers makes it difficult for businesswomen to secure loans without men as guarantors.

Nearly 68% of women borrowers required a male relative’s permission in order to qualify for any kind of loan. In addition, nearly all loan providers require women clients to provide two male guarantors in order to access a business loan and at least one of the guarantors should be unrelated to the borrower.

The lenders do not accept women guarantors for these loans. This has become an obstacle in the way of expanding microfinance to the women as finding unrelated male guarantors can be a challenge for many micro entrepreneurs who could be constrained by limited mobility and social barriers.

“Group loans are often the only option for women entrepreneurs, which isn’t ideal because they are expensive, time-consuming and unsuitable to their business needs,” says Mehnaz Safavian, Senior Economist at the World Bank.

Since only small loans are available under group lending, women clients often have to borrow from more than one microfinance institution for their capital needs, which increase the transaction costs.

The report identifies steps the microfinance sector can take to expand its outreach to women entrepreneurs. The challenges are daunting, but investment in financial literacy and better designed products can give more women entrepreneurs the resources they need to grow their business.

As a driver of microfinance policy, the State Bank of Pakistan can also further inclusion in microfinance by setting standards for consumer protection of women borrowers, advocating transparency in gender reporting and discouraging discriminatory practices and policies.

The Express Tribune

MINGORA: Most of the girls have stopped attending the school where Malala Yousafzai was studying as the parents and students were not comfortable with the extraordinary attention of the media and the threats given to the institution, the school administration said.

When contacted, the school Principal Miss Maryam confirmed the threats given to the school after the attack on Malala and her schoolmates, Shazia and Kainat on October 9. She added the school administration had banned coverage of the schoolgirls in media as a good number of girls had stopped attending the school after the incident and due to the attention given to it in the media.

The principal said certain girls had taken admission in other schools as they were scared and offended by the media intrusion. “Due to this reason we are not allowing the media to approach the students,” she added.

The administrator of the school Iqbal Hussain said that because of the media attention the school was earning a bad name and Ziauddin Yousafzai, father of Malala Yousafzai, had instructed them not to allow the media to interfere in the school affairs and do coverage during the teaching hours as this disturbed the students.

The News