ISLAMABAD – Facebook announced the expansion of its #SheMeansBusinessprogram in Pakistan, in partnership with the Lahore Women’s Chamber ofCommerce, to provide women entrepreneurs with the tools, training, andresources that can help them secure funding and grow their businesses.
At the launch of the program in Lahore, Beth Ann Lim, Head of CommunityAffairs at Facebook, Asia Pacific said,
The flexibility offered by digital technologies is enabling a newgeneration of women entrepreneurs around the world to make positivecontributions to their families and communities. However, women still facea number of obstacles such as a lack of funding and networks that can helpthem grow and scale. With this partnership, we want to nurture current andfuture generations of Pakistani women business leaders by providing accessto a series of workshops and online learning tools.
According to the Future of Business Report – a collaboration betweenFacebook, the World Bank, and the OECD, women business owners on Facebookin Pakistan still face significant funding challenges, with less than 1 in5 stating that they currently have a bank loan or a line of credit. Ofthose surveyed, over 3 in 4 Pakistani women business owners on Facebook saythat social media helps their business.
Dr. Faaiza Amjad, President, WCCI, said online platforms such as Facebookhave helped women entrepreneurs expand their businesses. “When women aresuccessful in business, it drives social growth too: more women areemployed, more diverse role models are created and there is strongerdiversity. Successful female entrepreneurs invest in their communities andin educating children. Through our partnership with #shemeansbusiness, wewill be able to help equip Pakistan’s women entrepreneurs with theknowledge, connections, skills, and technology required to build and growtheir businesses online,” she said.
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A range of studies including those carried out by the GlobalEntrepreneurship Monitor, OECD, World Bank, and International FinanceCorporation in conjunction with McKinsey reinforces the point thatharnessing the economic potential of women can lead to release substantialsocioeconomic gains potential. According to a recent study by the ClintonGlobal Initiative published on the United Nations Economic and SocialCouncil site, when women work they invest 90 percent of their income backinto their families, compared with 35 percent for men.
Run in collaboration with business leaders, civil society, NGOs and thepublic sector, #SheMeansBusiness is active in 21 countries around theworld, including Pakistan, has trained more than 130,000 women in digitalskills across the Asia Pacific, reached 130,000 online through the #SheMeansBusiness link hub.
