Pakistan narrows digital gender gap to 25% amid inclusion push

April 7, 2026 (MLN): Pakistan’s gender gap in mobile internet usage declined to around 25% over the past year from 36–38%, while more than 800,000 digital wallets were opened by women during the Ramzan digital payments initiative, reflecting a measurable expansion in digital and financial inclusion.

The data was presented during a review of the Digitalization for Women Economic Empowerment (D4WEE) Project, a four-year initiative (2024–2028) funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency.

Policymakers and stakeholders assessed progress on expanding women’s access to digital tools and financial services, according to the press release.

The session, held at the UN Women Country Office in Islamabad, was convened under the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT), which chairs the project’s Steering Committee.

The Steering Committee is the highest body responsible for strategic oversight, policy integration, and accountability.

Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, highlighted that the committee is focused on embedding project outcomes into institutional frameworks, ensuring sustainability beyond the project cycle, and tracking gender-disaggregated results in real time.

She pointed to recent gains in digital inclusion, including the distribution of around 7m free SIMs to underserved women, aimed at improving connectivity and enabling access to digital and financial services.

The D4WEE initiative brings together key government and private sector stakeholders to accelerate implementation and ensure delivery of programme objectives centered on women’s economic participation.

The programme is positioned as part of broader efforts to expand Pakistan’s digital economy and reduce structural inequalities in access to technology.

Integrating women into the digital economy has significant macroeconomic implications, particularly as Pakistan’s informal sector accounts for nearly 50% of GDP.

Expanding women’s participation is expected to support formalization, increase per capita productivity, and strengthen the country’s workforce by building a more sustainable digital talent pipeline.

The discussion also emphasized the need to prepare for emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, with a focus on ensuring these tools reduce rather than widen existing gender disparities in access to economic opportunities.

Participants reaffirmed the need for stronger inter-agency coordination, faster execution, and conversion of programme gains into long-term policy reforms.

The Steering Committee, chaired by MoITT, aims to align these efforts with the government’s broader Digital Nation Vision under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, ensuring women play a central role in Pakistan’s evolving digital landscape.

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