Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar on Monday urged Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states to ensure women and girls have equal access to emerging technologies, warning that artificial intelligence and digital innovation could either bridge inequality or deepen it.

Addressing the second day of the 9th OIC Ministerial Conference on Women in Islamabad, Tarar said every woman and girl must have an equal opportunity to learn, innovate and lead so that the digital future becomes “a bridge to inclusion” rather than “a barrier to equality”.

“Artificial intelligence and digital innovation are transforming our societies at an unprecedented pace,” he said. “If governed wisely, these technologies can expand access to employment, healthcare, entrepreneurship and financial inclusion. If ignored, they risk creating new forms of inequality, discrimination and exclusion.”

Tarar said women across the Muslim world were transforming economies, advancing scientific progress, leading businesses, serving in public office, and contributing to peace and humanitarian efforts.

Despite these achievements, he said, millions of women and girls continued to face barriers that limited their opportunities and prevented them from fully contributing to national development.

“Our responsibility is not simply to acknowledge these realities; it is to change them,” he said, describing the conference theme of the socio-economic and political empowerment of women in OIC member states as timely and forward-looking.

Calling women’s empowerment an economic necessity as well as a social imperative, Tarar said no nation could realise its full potential while half of its population lacked equal opportunities to learn, work, innovate and lead.

He said Muslim women had historically served as scholars, educators, entrepreneurs, jurists and community leaders, and continued to break new ground in science, technology, academia, business and public service.

“Our responsibility is not to define their potential; it is to remove the barriers that prevent it from being realised,” he said.

The minister further said the principles guiding these efforts were deeply rooted in Islam, which recognised the dignity, rights and legal identity of women more than 14 centuries ago.

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Highlighting the role of the OIC, Tarar said the organisation’s Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women and the Women’s Development Organisation had established a strong framework for cooperation among member states.

Sharing best practices and strengthening institutional partnerships, he said, would help accelerate progress while respecting different legal systems, cultures and national priorities.

Tarar also said Pakistan viewed its chairmanship of the conference “not as a position of prestige but as a responsibility” to build consensus and translate shared aspirations into practical action.

Turning to Pakistan’s domestic agenda, the minister stated that women’s empowerment was a national priority anchored in the Constitution and supported by legal, policy and institutional reforms under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government.

He said the government was implementing the National Gender Policy Framework 2025 and the Prime Minister’s Women Empowerment Package to expand women’s leadership, promote financial inclusion and entrepreneurship, bridge the digital divide, strengthen access to justice and create safer, more inclusive workplaces.

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“Today, women in Pakistan are serving with distinction as parliamentarians, judges, civil servants, diplomats, entrepreneurs, academics, scientists and members of our armed forces,” he said. “Their growing leadership across public and private institutions reflects our conviction that when women are empowered to lead and succeed, families flourish, societies become more resilient and nations prosper.”

Tarar further said sustainable progress required the active participation of men and boys as partners in promoting equality, respect and shared responsibility, adding that building an inclusive society was a collective endeavour requiring the commitment of every institution and every citizen.

He added that women’s empowerment extended beyond legal protections to ensuring equal access to education, innovation, finance, decision-making and economic participation.

He also highlighted the plight of women living amid conflict, occupation and humanitarian crises, paying tribute to women and girls in Palestine, particularly Gaza, for their resilience. He also referred to the situation of women in Afghanistan and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, saying empowerment was not only about opportunity but also about protection, dignity, justice and hope.

Concluding his address, Tarar said Pakistan would use its chairmanship of the conference to strengthen dialogue and cooperation among OIC member states, urging delegates to translate commitments into tangible progress for nearly 940 million women across the Islamic world. “The next generation of Muslim women must not merely participate in the digital economy; they must help lead it,” he asserted.