Telenor Pakistan and the World Bank (WB) have joined forces for "Girls Learn, Women Earn" (GLWE) initiative in continuation of its efforts for women empowerment, inclusion and participation in the country's socio-economic uplift.

A roundtable was held at Telenor Pakistan headquarters, where the significance of women participation in the country's labour force was discussed, said a press release. The session was attended by Dr Sania Nishtar, Kashmala Tariq, representatives from key telecom players, microfinance banks, and policymakers.

In her keynote statement, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Sania Nishtar stated, "Women empowerment is at the heart of Ehsaas framework. The programme is highly skewed towards uplifting of disadvantaged women through a multisectoral approach, enabling them to become contributing members of the economy. With Ehsaas Development Partners' Forum in place and public-private partnership in the pipeline, the multi-stakeholder construct of Ehsaas solutions offers wide-ranging opportunities to exploit synergies."

Adding further, she elaborated, "To bring about more sustainable change, Ehsaas constantly follows the 50 percent rule for women inclusion in all Ehsaas initiatives including interest-free loans, scholarships and asset transfers. Kafaalat that has recently been launched by the PM will ensure financial and digital inclusion of seven million disadvantaged women across Pakistan who will now benefit from the monthly stipend of Rs 2,000 along with access to bank accounts and affordable smart phones.-PR