Women in Learning & Leadership Training II – Women University Multan

04 Four Day training WILL(Women in Learning and Leadership) training was held under the project ‘Fostering Critical Thinking Skills for Gender-Inclusive Socio-Economic Development’ at Women University Multan.
The training is part of the long-term engagement of Shaoor Foundation for Education and Awareness with Women University Multan to socio-economically empower its students. After the training, the students will have multiple networking trips and exposure visits. The students will be helped to develop business ideas and will be eligible for seed funding to pursue their passion projects.

On the first day of the training, the introduction of the project was given by Project Manager Ms. Wardah Iftikhar where she said ‘Empowering women is the key to building Pakistan. Enabling them to nurture their self-esteem is a must if we have to rise as a nation’

Trainers Dr Sonia Irum and Ms. Sofia mentioned that the objective of the project is to develop critical thinking skills and critical feminist consciousness in young women (both teachers and students) in universities to enable them to challenge socio-economic oppression through creating the community of practice at Women University, Multan. The inauguration was followed by rigorous training on modules of ‘Social Inclusion and Gender’ and ‘Critical Thinking, Gender Equality, Peace Building and Conflict Resolution’ by trainers Ms. Sofia Hussain and Dr. Sonia Irum. Writer and filmmaker Ms. Jennifer Lee spoke to the students virtually about the women’s rights movements in the US and the present days challenges faced by women. Mr. Ali Aqa introduced the students to the public sector tech incubator PLAN 9 established with the vision of creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem in Pakistan encouraging them to be part of Plan 9. MS. Masooma Sibtain, alumni of Women University Multan and entrepreneur speaking to the participants said ‘If the Women of South Punjab are provided with right resources, they can contribute effectively in socio-economic development for themselves and the country’. Fatima from Taare Zameen par, a social enterprise working to empower slums women said ‘Multan is a culturally rich city with artisans in almost every household, we need to help them make their products market competitive to bring enrichment to the people of the city”

Ms. Aleena Durrani from SMEDA trained the young students on business communication and explained Basic concepts of entrepreneurship to convert an idea to a successful business.

Speaking at the WILL training, Ms. Misbah Mirza, applauded the efforts of Shaoor Foundation for Education and Awareness for promoting socio-economic development and entrepreneurial environment for the women faculty, researchers and students. Ms. Beenish, HOD Mass Communication said that “The training has been designed not just to identify the challenges they face but also come up with creative solutions”