Facebook Inc has taken the remarkable step to promote women‘s empowerment in Pakistan. The social media giant has disclosed that it has decided to expand its women-empowerment-centered project, ‘SheMeansBusiness’ to boost the financial inclusion and resiliency of women-led businesses in Pakistan.
Presently, ‘SheMeansBusiness’ is operational in 21 countries around the globe, including Pakistan and more. More than 1 million women have been educated in digital skills around the world by Facebook and its partners. Facebook conducted BRFE with USAID SMEA, aimed at the alumni of SheMeansBusiness digital marketing training program.
Furthermore, the program is deployed in collaboration with State Bank and the USAID Small and Medium Enterprise Activity (SMEA). The new component of the program, ‘Business Resilience through Financial Education (BRFE)’ seeks to improve financial management skills to optimize the flexibility and sustainability of women-led small and medium businesses (SMBs) in the country.
Additionally, the US Embassy Islamabad Chargé d’affaires Lesslie Viguerie and Deputy Governor, State Bank of Pakistan Sima Kamil virtually initiated BRFE at an official event. A number of senior administration officials and delegates of Facebook, Chambers of Commerce, USAID, Ministry of Commerce, and Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) have attended the virtual event.
Moreover, the event also included two-panel discussions. One with members of the Ministry of Commerce, State Bank of Pakistan, USAID, and another with the alumni of the pilot program of BRFE. The panel members spoke about the importance of financial management skills for women SMBs with a particular emphasis on problems and opportunities and exchanged ideas for promoting the financial inclusion of women by beating the current obstacles.