Parwan-e-Nisa, a year-long grant project funded by the US State Department in partnership with TiE Lahore and Sustainabl Advisory LLP, held its formal launch ceremony on Wednesday at the Faletti’s Hotel, Lahore. The program focuses on empowering Pakistani women towards a life of financial independence, sustainability and impact through entrepreneurship. Under Parwan-e-Nisa, 150 female entrepreneurs have been selected out of 1,244 applicants from across the province to equip them with entrepreneurial prowess through carefully curated training workshops, mentorship and business incubation. In the year 2021 alone, Pakistani entrepreneurs raised more than USD 350 Million in investments! The number is startling, however, only 1.1% of this was raised by female ‘founded’ startups and 32.4% was raised by female ‘co-founded’ startups. This number has to increase and that’s what Parwan-e-Nisa is striving to achieve. Chief Guest at the event, Hasaan Khawar (Special Assistant to Chief Minister Punjab on Information and Special Initiatives) said, “Being a youth intensive nation, we have the 9th largest labour force in the world but only 20% of it are women. To make Pakistan one of the strongest economies of the world, it is imperative that we turn our women into effective economic contributors; this is the only long-term, sustainable solution for Pakistan’s economic growth. This is where initiatives like Parwan-e-Nisa are playing a major role in uplifting our women not just economically but also helping them build their self-esteem.” Realising the socio-economic roadblocks faced by our women, this program aims at capacity building of aspiring and emerging entrepreneurs by providing them with the right skills, an entrepreneurial mindset, mentorship, business incubation and co-working space to grow their businesses – all free of cost! Through this platform, women are also enabled to network with industry veterans and investors – both, local and international. Humayun Mazhar (President, TiE Lahore and Director, Crescent Group) welcomed the esteemed guests and thanked the U.S. State Department for extending immense support to strengthen the financial standing of Pakistani women. He said, “Empowering women is one of the core agendas of TiE Global. TiE Lahore, being the local chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), goes all out to ensure it is implemented in the best of ways. We believe women can lead in any position; our job is to train & provide them with an enabling environment so they can bring out their best. We’re very thankful to US Consul General Lahore, William K. Makaneole, for being the pillar of support in the process.” “Pakistan needs women to take up leadership positions in all sectors.” said, US Consul General Lahore, William K. Makaneole. He added, “Equipping them with all tools and facilities, and taking away the pressure of paying for them is how we can gravitate women towards entrepreneurship.” Passionately briefing about the program structure, Faisal Sherjan (Managing Partner Sustainabl Advisory LLP and the Lead Trainer at Parwan-e-Nisa) expressed, “Our trainings have been designed to help women not just identify the challenges they face in running their businesses but also come up with solutions that can be implemented at scale!” Dr. Amjad Saqib (Founder and Chairman, Akhuwat), was highly appreciative of the efforts being done by Team Parwan-e-Nisa for the economic uplift of our women. During his closing keynote address, he said, “I am a firm believer in the power of entrepreneurship to turn around the economics of our country. If women – the real builders of our nation, are given the opportunity, imagine the impact we can create as a nation! It delights me to see the young team of Parwan-e-Nisa creating change in the lives of women by making entrepreneurship accessible and doable for them.” The launch was attended by notable personalities from microfinance, academia, private and government sectors such as Jahanzeb Khan (CEO, FINCA Microfinance Bank), Javaria Khan (Country Head Sales and Marketing, Chughtai Lab), Dr. Asghar Zaidi (Vice Chancellor, Government College Lahore), Khurram Zafar (Venture Capitalist, 47 Ventures), Dr. Zartash Uzmi (Professor, LUMS), Yasser Awan (Director of Labs, Mindstorm Studios), Sadaffe Abid (Founder, Circle Women), Kaleem Ullah (Head of Growth, UWorx Group), Sadia Qadir (Chairperson, Al-Bari Welfare Association), Salwa Akhtar (Executive Director, TiE Islamabad), Shameelah Ismail (Co-founder, Gharpar) and Tosheeba Sarwar (CEO, Tehmina Durrani Foundation). Sharing the ‘why’ behind the program, Syeda Mehak (Program Head, Parwan-e-Nisa) mentioned, “Building women is the key to building Pakistan. Enabling them to nurture their self-esteem is not an option, it’s a must if we have to rise as a nation. This is exactly what we’re doing at Parwan-e-Nisa; we’re helping women bring out the leader within them so they can nurture our future generation of leaders!” News Desk