RAWALPINDI: In its most recent project, the government's program focused on empowering youth, has invested in a tailoring shop of a transwoman fashion designer — a move activists welcome as a great step toward social inclusion and equality.
Pakistan has the world's youngest population, with 68 percent of its residents being below the age of 30.
The government’s Kamyab Jawan program aims to invest in Pakistan’s youth by creating employment opportunities. It has so far supported 10,000 young businesses with Rs8.5 billion, according to the prime minister's special assistant on youth affairs, Usman Dar.
As he shared a video narrating Naz's struggle in the face of social ostracism against the trans community, Dar said in a tweet on Sunday that the government is especially "working for the empowerment of marginalised strata of society."
To run her business, Naz Boutique, the Lahore-based designer received Rs1 million from the program.
“I as a transgender person want to transform people’s mindsets,” Naz said in the video, “we can do more than just dance or be involved in negative communities.”
“When I saw that the prime minister has launched this scheme, I felt optimistic ... When programs like this come about, there are always only two columns, one for men, one for women, but this time the third gender was there, and I really appreciate the initiative."
Nayyab Ali, a transgender politician and activist, told Arab News the program is a "great step towards financial inclusion of vulnerable communities in Pakistan," as employment exclusion, which deprives people of opportunities in social and economic activities, is the worst form of inequality.
"Being a community representative, I appreciate this step, it should be extended at a larger scale," Ali said. "Socioeconomic issues are the leading cause that pushes the transgender community towards the extreme level of marginalization within society and creates barriers in their joining mainstream society."
"Pakistan must collectively work towards inclusion through participation, social acceptability, and policy reforms to ensure and enforce the rights of all individuals and Kamyab Jawan in righty working in this direction."