August 5, 2020 – Lahore: The third meeting of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) central standing committee on women empowerment and development took place in Lahore. PM’s Special Assistant on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar virtually joined the meeting as a keynote speaker. Motivating entrepreneurial women, Dr. Nishtar said, “Foundational to Ehsaas is the realization that it is critically important to ensure that the program is responsive to needs of women in the country, who comprise 49% of total population. The ambition of Ehsaas is to skew critical initiatives towards women, by ensuring that at least 50% of all beneficiaries targeted by the program across initiatives are women. Therefore, Ehsaas encompasses several social protection and poverty alleviation initiatives targeted towards women, including interest free loans (50% women), Amdan (60% women), undergraduate scholarships (50%) and Kafaalat (7 million women), thus opening doors to rights and opportunities.” Further, highlighting Ehsaas Emergency Cash experience, Dr. Nishtar added that 61% of Ehsaas Emergency Cash has been disbursed to women. The meeting was convened by Dr. Shehla Javed Akram, Founder President of Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Lahore Division.