Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Oxfam in Pakistan and Hashoo Foundation partnered to launch the ‘Women Entrepreneurship Development’ project to address the country’s plastic bag pollution crisis and to explore sustainable solutions to counter its effects by engaging and empowering women entrepreneurs.
Minister of State for Climate Change and Chief Guest at the event, Zartaj Gul said “We are seeing a massive rural-urban migration, coupled with rapid urbanisation but as our growing population occupies new spaces in urban areas, it lacks the understanding of living in harmony with nature; so, we continue to damage our environment through uncontrolled and mismanaged waste disposal”.
Speaking on the occasion, Hashoo Foundation’s Project Head Sohail Bangash explained the rationale behind the pilot project. “Oxfam & Hashoo Foundation jointly conceptualized and designed the 8-month project to develop the skills of women entrepreneurs and enhance their employment opportunities by providing them with the platform to design, produce and market cloth bags as an alternative to single-use plastic bags,” he said.
Speaking at the event, Oxfam in Pakistan’s Country Director Mohammed Qazilbash said, “Economic development isn’t possible without women’s contribution, especially when it comes to addressing societal issues through social enterprises. It is therefore, crucial to facilitate and support women in their endeavours to achieve higher levels of economic productivity through innovation and entrepreneurship.”
Hashoo Foundation’s Board of Trustees member Shah Khawar said, “We aim to empower Women Entrepreneurs (WEs) to leverage their full potential, creativity and working knowledge of business development, and to improve their access to learning and training opportunities, and to help them polish their entrepreneurial skills and establish useful networks in the process.” He also added, “When we invest in women, we invest in communities across the board.”