A meeting with META (previously known as Facebook) and Minister for Science, Technology and IT Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mr Atif Khan was held to mark the closing of the Durshal Workshop pilot program and to discuss future collaborations between META and KP Government.

DEMO partnered with KPITB in 2021 to expand META’s SheMeansBusiness program in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by conducting a series of 3-day digital marketing and financial management workshops at Durshal incubation centers. The SheMeansBusiness program supports women-owned businesses globally by equipping them with the skills, tools, and resources they need to compete in the digital economy.

The training program was attended by over 250 women entrepreneurs from various districts of KP; Abbottabad, Bannu, Mardan, Peshawar, Swabi, and Swat. The participants learnt strategies to grow their online engagement, make use of social media insights, create Instagram Stories and manage Facebook Ads. They also practised various financial tools designed to help them manage their accounting and bookkeeping more efficiently.

Expressing gratitude to the KP government for their support in the successful execution of the program, Sehar Tariq, Head of Policy-Pakistan, Meta said, “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 the Pakistani society.”

Speaking on the occasion Madiha Hamid, Head of Business at DEMO 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.”