KARACHI: The Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan Limited (SCBPL) in partnership with the British Deputy High Commission (BDHC), Karachi organised an event to celebrate 75 years of Pakistan’s independence.
The event was widely attended by girls between the ages of 11-15 years, from schools of underserved communities which the Bank supports through their Goal programme. Volunteers from the Bank conducted a mentoring session with these girls on career prospects and how they can leverage opportunities to be independent and confident in life. The purpose of the celebration was to enable these girls to structure their ideas on how can they be the catalyst for social change in the future.
Rehan Shaikh, Chief Executive Officer at Standard Chartered Bank, said: “We are delighted to partner with British Deputy High Commission for the celebration of Independence Day. Today, once again BDHC has supported the Bank’s efforts to address the social and economic challenges being confronted by young girls. Educating girls and providing them with additional tools to shape their own future through our GOAL programme, enables them to address life’s challenges themselves and has an incredible intergenerational multiplier effect on communities and societies. We have been running this programme locally for six years now and have already created an impact for over 22,000 girls in Pakistan, through 71 schools in Karachi and Islamabad. With activities such as these we bring our brand promise here for good to life and it is integrated as a core component of our community engagement strategy, enabling our employees to do the right thing. Fundamental to the Bank’s culture, purpose and values, the EV activities support volunteers from the Bank contribute to the delivery of our community programmes, such as teaching financial education to disadvantaged young people and mentoring females.”
Sarah Mooney, British Deputy High Commissioner Karachi & Director for Trade said, “The British Deputy High Commission in Karachi is delighted to partner with Standard Chartered Bank to host this celebration of Pakistan’s 75th National Day, and 75 years of close ties between the UK and Pakistan. I am delighted that so many girls attended this wonderful anniversary event and the ‘Mentor’s Den’. The UK is committed to working with Pakistan to improve the future of young girls. No nation can succeed without the full participation of 50 percent of its population. I hope these girls will carry forward what they have learnt today and in time become mentors themselves”.
The Independence Day celebrations ended with a cake cutting ceremony with girls from the Goal schools. Goal is the Bank’s award-winning, sport-for-development programme that provides financial education and life-skills training to girls aged between 10 and 24. The objective of the Goal programme is to empower young women as economic leaders. Goal was launched in Pakistan in 2016 in collaboration with Right to Play and since its launch the SCBPL has impacted more than 22,000 adolescent girls’ lives in Pakistan.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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