ILO's global training module on entrepreneurship launched in Pakistan

The ILO and the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan launched a new programme today to strengthen women's entrepreneurship in Pakistan.

Press release | Islamabad, Pakistan | 02 September 2014
ISLAMABAD (ILO News): The ILO and the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan launched a new programme today to strengthen women's entrepreneurship in Pakistan. Almost thirty trainers from twelve HEC universities and other development organisations were trained over two weeks on ILO's globally recognised module, Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) augmented by training on the gender dimensions of entrepreneurship.

Speaking at the launch of the programme at the HEC building, Mr Francesco d'Ovidio, Country Director, ILO Pakistan, emphasised the contribution women make to the economy, especially the millions of women involved in small and medium sized enterprises. "The ILO recognises these enterprises as engines of growth and employment, especially in developing economies like Pakistan's, where jobs in the formal sector are limited."

Mr Mukhtar Ahmad Chairman HEC, while signing a formal agreement of support between the ILO and HEC, thanked the ILO for their support in strengthening their business incubation centres all around Pakistan, with gender mainstreamed business development expertise. "The trainers that have been trained in SIYB and Gender and Entrepreneurship will now replicate this training in their own institutes' business incubation centres. This way they will reach hundreds of women and men and help them bring their creative business ideas into reality."

The participants, teachers from universities from all over Pakistan including Malakand, Quetta, Sukkur, Lahore and Karachi, also shared their experiences with the audience at the ceremony and praised the participatory training sessions. Receiving her certificate for successfully completing the SIYB training, one of the trainee Ms Saima from University of Engineering and Technology said that “This has been one of the most unique learning experiences of my life. I had several business ideas but didn’t know how to implement them, thanks to this training I can now put my plans into action due to the skills that i have received.” Another participant Shah Muhammad from Baluchistan University said ‘The trainer kept the retention rate high, the training was practical and interactive and we got the chance to deliver individual learning sessions to improve our training techniques."

The SIYB training was delivered by Mr Gemunu Wijesena Senior Master Trainer SIYB Association of Sri Lanka. He was hopeful that the programme would be rolled out successfully as the trainers were all well qualified professionals committed to making the business centres hubs of innovation and entrepreneurship in their areas. "There will be a second workshop in January next year where I will return to see how the roll-out is progressing and understand some of the challenges and successes."

Shahnaz Kapadia, a renowned expert on gender and business development, who was the trainer for the gender and entrepreneurship sessions, was hopeful that a well-planned replication and outreach strategy, with a overt focus on women, "will change the entire landscape of entrepreneurship and women's empowerment." Sharing from her experiences at the grassroots, she said "there are so many talented women and men in Pakistan with such creative ideas, but because of lack of a supportive environment or accessible business development services, this talent is never realised. HEC's business incubation centres have the potential to fill this gap."

This unique initiative is supported by the ILO project Promoting Gender Equality for Decent Employment (GE4DE) funded by Department of Foreign Affairs Trade and Development (DFATD) Canada.


For further information please contact:

Hiba Siddiqui
Programme Officer
ILO Office for Pakistan
email