SAARC women biz leaders convene in Colombo to initiate social entrepreneurship

Women business leaders from SAARC countries who form the executive committee of SAARC Chamber Women Entrepreneurs Council (SCWEC) will gather in Colombo this weekend to deliberate and map out strategies towards enterprise development 
across borders. 

With social entrepreneurship as the main agenda, the forum will carve out specific areas where women across the expanse could collaborate in income generating activities, seamlessly, avoiding unnecessary trade barriers and cross border divides.

Top on the agenda will be the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at which an E-SAARC platform for women will be established in partnership with Center of Pakistan and International Relations (COPAIR). 

COPAIR is an Islamabad based platform that empowers women using Information Technology. SCWEC’s Chairperson Rifa Musthapha will sign the MOU along with President of COPAIR and Chief Executive of Amna Malik Group of Companies, Pakistan, Amna Malik. Intensive online training and learning will be a key focus, to quickly up the skill levels of potential women sellers, to capitalize on the ever expanding e-commerce space.Having identified that menstrual sanitation among rural women across the stretch of the SAARC region is a vital necessity; SCWEC will undertake an initiative that will re-define feminine hygiene. Determined that every woman in the SAARC region should have access to clean, affordable and quality, sanitary products, SCWEC has identified the need to encourage women to produce, promote and distribute bio-degradable sanitary napkins. Currently an alarmingly large number of women are still using cloth, hay, sand and unhygienic alternatives which affect their ability to carry on daily activities, much less to be involved in income 
generating activities.

“Helping women to launch their own businesses, as well as manufacturing and distributing affordable menstrual pads is a fundamental priority to help prevent women from missing work due to lack of access to hygienic sanitary products” explained Rifa Musthapha. “Through this initiative we hope to not only provide the necessary skills but also enable women to help themselves in finding financial independence for improved livelihoods through a self-sustaining enterprise”.

“Additionally, it imparts entrepreneurial and business skills training to village-level entrepreneurs to help them enforce and sustain livelihood opportunities,” 
said Musthapha.