Islamabad: Prime Minister Shaybaz Sharif said that the government will merge women associated with home industries and small companies in the SME sector (SME).
The International Women’s Day was announced during a review meeting on continuous reforms under the SMEDA Development Authority.
Speaking at the meeting, the Prime Minister stressed the need for women’s economic empowerment and directing powers to provide capital and basic facilities on the basis of priority for businessmen in the cottage industry.
He also issued instructions to measures to provide low -cost loans to women under the youth loan plan, allowing them to expand their business.
With emphasizing the importance of supporting educated women and skills, especially in rural and remote areas, urged initiatives that help them achieve financial independence through entrepreneurship.
The Prime Minister ordered the establishment of facilitation centers and training institutes to support women participating in small companies and ensure easy access to these resources.
To strengthen this initiative, he announced the formation of a special committee charged with developing a comprehensive plan to empower women through commercial opportunities. The committee will soon make its recommendations to the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister also directed the authorities to ensure women reach the facilitation centers and training programs, and confirmed that low -cost loans will provide female owners of female projects under the youth loan plan.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister was briefed on SMEDA initiatives to develop small, small and medium companies.
Separately, in his speech here at an event from International Women’s Day, a global mark was placed on March 8 to celebrate women’s achievements and students of their rights, the Prime Minister said that empowering women can only be achieved by providing equal access to education, skills development and employment opportunities.
“It is our task and our fixed commitment to ensure the liberation of the country’s population,” he said.
Distinguished women from various fields, including members of the Council of Ministers, legislators, businessmen and activists, joined the event on the Board of Directors of the Prime Minister, organized by the Ministry of Human Rights and the National Women’s Status (NCSW) in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
On this occasion, the Prime Minister launched the gender parity report in the capital prepared by NCSW and UNFPA, which defines challenges and recommends solutions in the main fields such as education, health, governance, political representation and justice.
The Prime Minister indicated that his government will cooperate with provinces for a collective action to enhance women’s integration in programs that contribute to the national economy. He announced the establishment of a working women’s standing fund in an attempt to support working women and help them compete with contemporary challenges.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Law, Justice and Human Rights, Azad Nazir Tarar, said in line with the guidance of Prime Minister Shaybaz, and the ministries and departments were assigned last year to ensure comprehensive policies for women.
He said that the initiative successfully led to a higher percentage of women’s representation in the boards of directors. He pointed out that Pakistan ranked 145 out of 146 countries in the World Gender Gap Index, along with Afghanistan, which “did not reflect a true image and was inconsistent with the ground reality.”
He called on relevant organizations to reconsider the ranking and expressed the government’s readiness to share the required data.
