Women in Learning & Leadership Training I – Rawalpindi Women University

Project Fostering Critical Thinking and Entrepreneurial Skills in Young Women for Gender Inclusive Socioeconomic Development (FCTEW), is a project Shaoor Foundation for Education and Awareness(SFEA) led by academicians (as content developers, consultants, and trainers) and subject specialists. The project is promoting socio-economic development and an entrepreneurial environment for the women faculty, researchers, and students through training and linkages establishment at the provincial/national level with the private sector, incubation centers, entrepreneurial entities, and other civil society organizations. The project works with four public sector universities across Pakistan.

The training is part long term engagement of Shaoor Foundation for Education and Awareness with Rawalpindi Women University to empower its students socio-economically. 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 for pursuing their passion projects.

The training started with the trainer Dr. Sofia Hussain’s interactive session where students shared their experiences of gender discrimination. The brainstorming activities were conducted where students were taught the difference between sex and gender as well as equality and equity. Trainer Dr. Sonia covered the aspects of critical thinking skills and critical feminist consciousness in young women in universities to enable them to challenge socio-economic oppression through creating a community of practice at their institution. The inauguration was followed by rigorous training on modules of ‘Social Inclusion and Gender’ and ‘Critical Thinking, Gender Equality, Peace Building, and Conflict Resolution’ and ‘Research Women’s Literature – Case Studies from Pakistan and United States’ by trainers Ms. Sofia Hussain and Dr. Sonia Irum. Speakers namely Ms. Sadaf Asim Abbasi – CEO of Eateria and Former Senior Vice President at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Mohammad Asghar – Regional Business Coordinator at SMEDA, Ms. Xyra Raza – Founder of the Happiness Bazar, and Ms. Romana Fareed – CEO at Romana.pk graced the sessions with their presence and shared insights into the entrepreneurial world with the students. Mr. Javed Hassan Awan – Additional Director (External linkages), Dr. Nauman Ahmed Ansari (HoD Mass Communications), and Dr. Baqir Husnain – Additional Director (QEC) at RWU applauded the efforts of Shaoor Foundation for their actions of gender-inclusive socio-economic empowerment of the female students. Ms. Wardah Iftikhar (Program Manager at SFEA) and Mr. Raja Shoaib Akbar (Executive Director at SFEA) thanked the audience and RWU administration for their support and expressed their interest in furthering SFEA’s collaboration with Rawalpindi Women University.