Mr. Atif Khan, the Honourable Minister for Science, Technology and IT of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, met with META (formerly known as Facebook) to celebrate the end of the Durshal Workshop pilot programme and to discuss future cooperation between META and the KP Government.
In 2021, DEMO teamed up with KPITB to extend META’s SheMeansBusiness initiative in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by holding a series of 3-day digital marketing and financial management training at Durshal incubation facilities. The SheMeansBusiness initiative helps women-owned companies throughout the world compete in the digital economy by providing them with the skills, tools, and resources they need.
Over 250 women entrepreneurs from various districts in KP attended the training session, including Abbottabad, Bannu, Mardan, Peshawar, Swabi, and Swat. Participants learned how to increase their online engagement, leverage social media insights, produce Instagram Stories, and manage Facebook Ads using META’s training programme. They also practised designing a variety of financial instruments.
Madiha Hamid, Head of Business at DEMO, spoke during the event about the need of supporting infrastructure for women. She said,
“There is a lack of accessibility to technological infrastructure that hinders the learning of participants in KP. For effective learning, we must work on making technology accessible to all.”
Mr. Atif Khan praised META’s work to empower women in KP, emphasising the need for more women to be educated, with a special focus on financial literacy. Sehar Tariq, Head of Policy-Pakistan, Meta, expressed appreciation to the KP government for their cooperation in the program’s effective implementation, saying,
“Women are an indispensable force of Pakistan. Their energy and passion contribute immensely to the socio-economic growth in the country. Through various initiatives, we aim to provide them with the opportunity, platform, and skills to become a catalyst for that growth by driving a sustainable and wholesome transformation of Pakistani society.”
META and KPITB hope to empower more entrepreneurs in KP by expanding the SheMeansBusiness Durshal programme and providing them with access to world-class learning materials and the opportunity to study from Facebook certified trainers.
