The annual report benchmarked the current state and evolution of gender parity across four key dimensions: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.

Pakistan scored the lowest out of the 38 lower-middle-income economies, as well as the seven South Asian countries, included in the report.

“While Pakistan remains among the lowest-ranked economies in the index, it has nonetheless narrowed its gender gap over time by 5.2 percentage points, up from 54.3pc in 2006,” the report said.

“Furthermore, the 2026 edition marks its strongest year-on-year improvement in a decade, driven primarily by substantial gains in educational attainment.”

Economic participation and opportunity

Pakistan ranked 144th in economic participation and opportunity in 2026, moving up three places from its 147th rank in the same index in 2025.

The report revealed that 81.46pc of men participated in the labour force, compared to only 28.21pc of women.

According to the report, an overwhelming 93.87pc of legislators, senior officials and managers in Pakistan’s workforce were men, compared to women making up 6.13pc. For the professional and technical workers category, the gap was lower with 30.96pc of the positions being occupied by women.

The country ranked 115th in wage equality for similar work and 140th in estimated earned income.

The report also revealed that 4.9pc of firms in Pakistan had a female majority ownership, while only 3.4pc firms had female top managers.

Educational attainment

Pakistan ranked 130th in educational attainment, marking a substantial gain in the category.

Male literacy rate in the country was reported to be at 69.14pc, while female literacy rate stood at 48.52pc.

Boys’ enrolment in primary education was at 83.01pc compared to 81.08pc among girls. In secondary education, male enrolment stood at 49.99pc, compared to 46.48pc in female enrolment.

Pakistan ranked first in the world for enrolment in tertiary education, marking high parity, as 10.71pc of women and 11.01pc of men were enrolled.

Health and survival

The country ranked 127th in the health and survival category. Within the category, Pakistan ranked first in sex ratio at birth, showing high parity between male and female births.

Male healthy life expectancy stood at 57.1pc, compared to 56.69pc for women.

Political empowerment

Pakistan ranked 107th globally in the political empowerment index. According to the report, 78.31pc of parliamentarians were men, compared to 21.69pc being women.

Further, an overwhelming 96.55pc of individuals in ministerial positions were men, compared to only 3.45pc of positions being occupied by women.

With a female head of state having ruled the country for 4.73 of the last 50 years, Pakistan ranked 39th in this subindex.

Access to finance, justice

The report also revealed that women in Pakistan didn’t enjoy equal rights regarding inheritance for widows and daughters. It added that women had “near-equal rights” when it came to access to financial services, land assets and non-land assets.

According to the report, women had “restricted rights” when it came to access to justice, while they had “equal rights” for freedom of movement.

The report also said that women in Pakistan had “unequal rights” for right to divorce.

It added that 24.9pc of women had experienced gendered violence in their lives, and that women in Pakistan had “restricted rights” regarding their reproductive autonomy.

In a post on X at 4:39pm, the PTI claimed that Raja, Latasob Satti and “others were unlawfully abducted” when they were on their way to Kotli Sattian to attend a PTI worker’s funeral. A post on Latasob’s Facebook account said his son Ikhlaq Ahmad Satti was also held.

The PTI said they were then transferred to Nilore police station in Islamabad, alleging that “abductions and arrests were ongoing to prevent people from attending the funeral”.

In a subsequent post at 5:32pm, Raja said he, Latasob, Ikhlaq and their “several friends were released after being kept in detention for four hours”.

PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan said party leader Shaukat Basra informed him that Raja has been “detained at police station by the police for the last two hours”.

“I strongly condemned this and called upon his immediate release. For the last few days, about 700 workers have been arrested,” he claimed, adding that arrest warrants have also been issued against MNAs and MPAs.

“This is all illegal. This must end now,” he wrote.

Earlier in the day, Raja had addressed a press conference alongside PTI leader Taimur Saleem Jhagra.

The PTI has been holding party activities to mobilise supporters for the PTI’s nationwide protest scheduled for September 27, with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi touring Punjab this week.

On its part, the Punjab government has imposed a ban on gatherings across the province from September 13 to 17.

District authorities had also issued preventive detention orders against dozens of PTI workers under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order, including 31 in one Punjab notification and a further 14 in Toba Tek Singh.

The administrations of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad had already begun preparations to counter the PTI’s announced march to the capital, including a request for the detention of activists, arranging containers, seeking additional personnel and procuring anti-riot gear.

On Wednesday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited various checkpoints in Attock connecting Punjab to KP to review security arrangements.

More to follow

The measures are to be implemented with immediate effect, the Cabinet Division’s notification detailing the government’s directives said.

According to the Sept 17 notification, seen by Dawn, businesses and commercial establishments are to close at following timings:

• Shops, markets, shopping malls and bazaars, as well as departmental, grocery, general and kiryana stores are to close by 9pm
• Marriage halls, marquees and all other commercial places where festive events are held are to close by 10pm
• Restaurants, cafés, eateries, and food outlets, as well as standalone fruit and vegetable shops are to close by 11pm. Takeaway and home delivery services are exempted from the restriction
• Pharmacies, medical and medical supplies’ stores, medical laboratories, clinics, hospitals, standalone bakeries, standalone tandoors, standalone milk and dairy shops, fuel and CNG stations, electrical vehicle charging stations, gyms, sports facilities and sports/padel courts, IT companies and call centres are also exempted from any time restrictions.

Moreover, just a single dish should be served at all marriage-related functions or events, the notification said.

The Cabinet Division also detailed comprehensive instructions for government entities and officials.

These include the reduction in fuel provision by 50pc for official vehicles for three months.

Vehicles of armed forces, civil armed forces, vehicles in use of law enforcement agencies, those used for essential services and those in use of the Federal Board of Revenue are excluded from this restriction barring those of administrative or non-operational formations of these entities.

This measure is also not applicable in the case of development projects, according to the notification.

The government has also announced a 5pc reduction in the budget for non-employee related expenditures for FY2026-27, with deduction to be made on a monthly basis.

“This measure will also apply in the case of foreign missions and the officers/officials, belonging to any occupational group or service, posted in these missions; however, obligations relating to their rents, educational fees and medical care arrangements will be met,” the notification read, adding that this measure too was not applicable in case of development projects.

More to follow.

In a post on X, the party claimed that Raja, Latasub Satti and others were “illegally abducted” when they were on their way to Kotli Sattian to attend a PTI worker’s funeral.

The PTI said they were then transferred to Nilore police station in Islamabad, alleging that “abductions and arrests were ongoing to prevent people from attending the funeral”.

More to follow