ISLAMABAD: The Centre for Social Education and Development (CSED) has successfully implemented a six-month long project SHE-CAN that was funded by the Ambassador Fund Program. Reportedly, the project has provided strong professional development training to nearly 1,000 female students of six universities situated in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan. CSED Program Director Itrat Asad urged to empower women by securing their social and economic space in Pakistan. “Our women are strong, hardworking and possess capability to achieve hard objectives. We need to support and create conducive professional environment for the young and aspiring women,” she asserted. SHE-CAN is an indefinite programme launched by CSED that would train women, particularly students of universities, so that they would be able to choose entrepreneurial and professional careers. “CSED is a committed and dedicated organisation that firmly believes on equal participation of women in the development of society, and that without women’s participation, the economy of Pakistan cannot achieve sustainability,” the CSED Executive Director Mubashir Akram said. The project formulated training manuals and thematic literature that could be retrieved free of cost from CSED. Roshana Baig, a final year student of MBA of Karakorum International University, expressed her views and said that such trainings should be held on regular basis as the trainings provide practical and professional perspectives to the academic learning of the students. The CSED Executive Director also requested the government officials to support and provide healthy environment for the nonprofit organisations to operate in Pakistan. “We are equal partners in national building projects that effectively connect the development and progress with the youths of remote areas,” he added. “The state and the society must cooperate for development and progress in Pakistan and SHE-CAN is an example of such collaboration,” he further said. The project successfully achieved its objectives on May 31, 2018. Published in Daily Times, June 13th 2018.