PESHAWAR
The Management of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cities Improvement Program (KPCIP) and the Bank of Khyber (BoK) are keen to jointly work towards women empowerment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
A press release issued here on Tuesday, said that the management of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cities Improvement Program KPCIP arranged a Women Empowerment Panel Talk on Politics Governance and Entrepreneurship at IQRA University.
Minister for Local Government Advocate Sawal Nazir Khan and Secretary Local Government Mr Syed Zaheer-ul-Islam inaugurated the event.
Chief Executive Officer from the Bank of Khyber Mr Mohammad Gulfaraz Khan was also in attendance where he spoke about women being crucial to the development of the nation.
The Bank of Khyber has taken many gender friendly initiatives like being the first organization in KP to initiate a nursery for working moms in house, taking the largest number of female interns and also increasing the presence of women in the workforce in leading positions.
BOK in recent years has worked on introducing women-friendly banking products to encourage their contribution in the field of entrepreneurship.
KPCIP and BOK expressed deep interest in working with each other further strengthening the cause of women empowerment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Project Director Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cities Improvement Project Syed Zafar Ali Shah in his opening remarks spoke about the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cities Improvement Projects (KPCIP) improving the quality of life of the residents of at least four cities, including Abbottabad, Kohat, Mardan, and Peshawar, directly benefiting about 3.5 million of urban population.
The KPCIP will help selected cities improve their access to quality urban services through two interlinked outputs: (i) enhanced municipal infrastructure and public urban spaces, and (ii) strengthened institutional capacities and efficiency of provincial, municipal and city governments and urban service companies.
He spoke about KPCIP’s commitment towards Women Empowerment and that gender was an important component of the project.
Gender Director Madam Shandana Saad further elaborated on Women Business Development Centres (WBDC’s) being initiated in four different cities Peshawar, Mardan, Kohat & Abbottabad.
This output will improve women’s access to economic opportunities and increase their participation in urban governance and services. First the WBDC in Kohat will be rehabilitated and upgraded.
The Panel Talk was conducted by Madam Sameen Shah Head of Student Affairs at IQRA University which included Renowned Human Rights Activist Valerie Yousafzai, Barrister Awais Khan, UNFPA KP Focal Person Mahjabeen Kazi, and Renowned Entrepreneur Afshan Khan of Fast Moving Packages.
The Panel talk was initiated in continuation of Women Day celebrations for the month of March.
