No conceivable development plan can sustain such a rate of population growth. If we are to meet the challenges of the 21st century, Pakistan must put slowing population growth at the head of its list of priorities. We have discovered by experience, including the example of the East Asian tiger economies, that successful programmes to slow population growth are based on the ability of individual men and women to make decisions in favour of smaller families. Gender Inequality Inequality between the sexes has held back Pakistan's development from the outset. At every economic level in Pakistan, what resources exist are not equitably distributed between men and women, girls and boys.
Girls are less welcome in our families than boys.
There are many congratulations for the birth of a boy, but we don't hear so much rejoicing when a girl is born. Our girl children are more likely to be malnourished than boys. They are less likely to be taken to hospital when they are sick, and they are more likely to die in infancy. Girls are much less likely to go to school than boys, and much more likely to leave school early. They get married earlier than boys and start having children while they are still in their teens.