Prominent businesswoman Rizwana Asif has been elected unopposed as President of the Islamabad Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IWCCI).
The annual general meeting of IWCCI was held after which the election results were announced in which Rizwana Asif was elected as President while Sonia Saleem was elected as SVP and Sehrish Ahsan was elected as VP.
Federal Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplaces Kashmala Tariq and MNA Sajida Zulfiqar were present as chief guests. They took oath from newly-elected office bearers and assured all help to the women entrepreneurs so that they can do their business with peace of mind.
Later in her speech, Rizwana Asif said that she is grateful for the trust of businesswomen and she will try her best to fulfil the trust by serving women without discrimination and in every possible way.
She said that she will use all her energies and full cooperation will be provided to all the partners.
Rizwana Asif said that IWCCI has now emerged as a strong organization serving women and upholding the tradition and it will continue to play its role in the development and solving the problems of all business women.
She said that she will make tireless efforts to give women a rightful place in the society as economic development of women is a great goal for which all efforts should be made.
She also paid rich tributes to the services of the outgoing President Naima Ansari and said that she not only served the women but also played an active role in highlighting the issue of women at every forum.
Founder President of Islamabad Women’s Chamber, Samina Fazil, Sonia Saleem and Sahrish Ahsan said in their address that women’s businesses were destroyed due to the Coronavirus, but they could not get cheap loans or any other help.
They said that floods have affected crores of women whose rehabilitation should be given top priority as the calamity has badly hit the poor population in the affected areas and its consequences are drastically impacting the women who are already at a low ebb.
According to United Nations Development Programme, women and children are 14 times more likely than men to bear the brunt of fatalities as a result of natural calamities, they informed.
Deep-rooted gender inequality, exacerbated by poverty and illiteracy, is making life more miserable for women after the catastrophe caused by floods which should be properly noticed by authorities, they demanded.
