The latest World Economic Forum data shows that a girl born today will have to wait 123 years – way beyond her expected lifespan – to see gender equality achieved globally. Compared to men, women and girls are less likely to go to school or have a job. Women with disabilities face even greater barriers to participating equally in society.
While the gender gap spans multiple indicators, including access to health and education, one of the most powerful drivers of long-term change is economic empowerment. Without much-needed investment to expand women’s access to decent work, skills, and financial independence, progress across other indicators will remain slow.
“We do not have to accept a 123-year wait or longer for equality,” said Munazza Gillani, Sightsavers’ director for Pakistan and the Middle East. “Disability-inclusive investments in women’s livelihoods can compress over a century of waiting into transformative change right away. Our programmes worldwide show that when women, especially women with disabilities, gain economic power, families and communities grow stronger, and economies expand. Investing in women, especially those with disabilities, is an undervalued investment opportunity which even the World Bank acknowledges could add up to US$21 trillion to the global GDP.”
In Pakistan, Fizza Hussain, the country’s first visually impaired chef and co-founder of Khaas Foodz Kitchen, is one of many examples of what disability-inclusive investment can achieve. Losing her sight at the age of 18, she refused to accept the stigma society would try to place on her and has since helped develop Pakistan’s first accessible culinary training model for visually impaired individuals. Through her leadership, more than 1000 trainees have received professional culinary and life skills training. Fizza is also the creative mind behind Dining in the Dark Pakistan, an immersive dining event fully led by visually impaired chefs and service staff.
Fizza and her start-up, Khaas Foodz Kitchen, were supported by Sightsavers’ Futuremakers Innovation Challenge (ICF) as a part of the organisation’s disability-inclusive entrepreneurship programme, which provides entrepreneurship toolkits and support to participants. The backing Fizza received through the ICF programme allowed her to scale her business and expand her impact. Her later appearance on Shark Tank Pakistan, where she secured investment and national recognition, demonstrates the economic and social impact possible when women with disabilities are supported in leadership positions.
Fizza has recently won the 2026 Visa & HBL She’s Next program in Pakistan, proving that when persons with disabilities lead, they reshape systems, shift mindsets, and inspire countless others across Pakistan.
To accelerate progress, Sightsavers is calling for investment in programmes that include women and girls with disabilities. By working together to target inequality for all women and girls, we can achieve gender equality within their lifetime.
