Striving to Mobilize Resources for Under-privleged Women
Women's Development Fund works to create a perpetual congenial environment for the women folk from all walks of life. We work to make women equal partners to men, and promote a society free of gender-bias in Pakistan.
About You
Section 1: About You
First Name
Sabiha
Last Name
Shah
Website
Country
Pakistan
Section 2: About Your Organization
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Organization Name
Women's Development Foundation (WDF)
Organization Website
Organization Phone
92-12 2521687
Organization Address
Juskani Mohala, Grex Village, Mari Pur, Hawksbay RD, Karachi
Organization Country
Pakistan
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
How long has this organization been operating?
More than 5 years
The information you provide here will be used to fill in any parts of your profile that have been left blank, such as interests, organization information, and website. No contact information will be made public. Please uncheck here if you do not want this to happen..
Your idea
Name Your Project
Striving to Mobilize Resources for Under-privleged Women
Describe Your Idea
Women's Development Fund works to create a perpetual congenial environment for the women folk from all walks of life. We work to make women equal partners to men, and promote a society free of gender-bias in Pakistan.
Country your work focuses on
Pakistan
Innovation
What makes your idea unique?
Women's Development Fund empowers women folk economically, socially, culturally, and legally as an equal partner in all fields of life. This is a relatively new concept in Pakistan, a male-dominated country that has a challenging history of conflict. We are on of few organizations fighting to eliminate exploitation of women.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
No
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
Tell us about the social impact of your innovation. Please include both numbers and stories as evidence of this impact
EDUCATION
Education is key to the empowerment of women. WDF focuses on non-formal education especially for girls and adult women who were not educated due to gender-bias. Since December 2009, 20 Non Formal Education Centers are running in Lyari, Keamari and Gadap Towns with help of Rotary Club SOuth. These centers serve over 400 girls, women and boys. WDF is also running 25 Madrasas in different localities of Gadap Town with the help of local philanthropists. Many girls and boys have been served.
HEALTH
Health is one of the major issues in Pakistan. Affordable health facilities for low-income families simply do not exist. WDF is running a Family health Clinic for women and children in Grex Village, Maripur, and Kemari Town since its establishment. Rural clinics are established to provide rural populations with free treatment and medicine.
COLLECTIVE MARRIAGES
This is a regualr annual feature of WDF since 2002. Annually we solemnize marriages of 50-60 destitute girls of rural and urbam slum areas around Karachi. SO far over 450 marriages have been solemnized. This allows young under-privledged couples a new beginning. To facilitate the beginning of a new life and support the woman, every couple is provided a dowry worth Rs 35000. Pre marriage counseling and HIV/AIDS, Hepatitus C, and Thelesemea tests are also arranged before solemnization of marriages.
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Women's economic upliftment is the main focu of WDF. Through skill and management training, women are trained in various trades and how to market their goods. WDF partnered with Directorate of WOmen Development, Govt. and local Civil Society organizations to produce various training programs across districts of Sindh and Balochistan.
We use the LEARN and EARN motto for girls. Girls learn to make jewelry so they can earn their livelihood on a piece rate basis. They build their self-confidence as they are empowered and become earning members of their family.
LEGAL AID
Women are a neglected segment of our male dominated society. They are not aware of their right. WDF makes them aware of their legal rights through awareness campaigns. We alo support and refer women in need of legal assistance to our partners like PAWLA, Shaheed Benazir, Bhuto WOmen Center Krachi.
DISTRIBUTION OF RATION AND CLOTHES
Every year during the month of Ramzan WDF distributes clothes to 300 destitute and needy families across Lyari, Kemari, and Gadap Towns. We also facilitate distribution of sacrificial meat furing Eid-ul-Zuha.
Problem: Describe the primary problem(s) that your innovation is addressing
Pakistani society values women’s role in reproduction more than it does their role in production. Poor families invest in the initiatives of males, expecting men to secure income and resources while women stay at home. Women who desire to contribute to family income—or to meet their own financial needs—face challenges including lack of education, stigma and limited options for transportation. Women who do work receive lower wages, confront harassment, and find little social support for their efforts. In urban areas, large numbers of women work in garment factories, but they face harsh working conditions and unstable income.
Mountains of obstacles stand in the way of women who want to operate a sustainable business or choose and build a rewarding career. Among these, the most unshakable is an almost absolute lack of access to financial, legal, or business development services.Poor women desperately need these services to initiate careers, improve their livelihoods, and lessen their vulnerability. Existing services that serve women, like the First Women Bank Ltd. or the many craft training centers run by charity organizations, struggle to attract women from poor neighborhoods.
Actions: Describe the steps that you are taking to make your innovation a success. What might prevent that success?
WDF provides poor women comprehensive systems of support for their business ventures. WDF trains women and helps them see themselves as capable of being active members in the marketpalce.
WDF incorporated family planning and development into training programs on business development. WDF ties discussions on financial success to success in other spheres, including health care and children’s education, and helped women toward a healthy reframing of their lives based on new identities as entrepreneurs. WDF focuses on expanding business training programs instead of microcredit programs, since these were already available from other organizations.
Results: Describe the expected results of these actions over the next three years. Please address each year separately, if possible
WDF is serving over 1000 vulnerable people through this variety of programs. Most specifically, WDF develops women's patent and latent potentials and enables them to participate as equal partners in life. We see now that these efforts act as a model and help to educate men. Men see women as active members of the marketplace and they begin to understand that women are equal. Time and time again, we help women to create a job where they can work and be financially independent and men understand and sometimes even help run what becomes the family business. By empowering women to be economically independent and powerful WDF also influences peace in a country that has so much conflict. Women as significant economic actors help to bring balance and strong decision-making skills into society and this balance leads to peace.
How many people will your project serve annually?
1001‐10,000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
Less than $50
Does your innovation seek to have an impact on public policy?
If your innovation seeks to impact public policy, how?
Approximately 150 words left (1200 characters).
Sustainability
What stage is your project in?
Operating for more than 5 years
Does your organization have a board of directors or an advisory board?
Yes
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with businesses?
Yes
Does your organization have a non monetary partnerships with government?
Yes
Please tell us more about how partnerships could be critical to the success of your innovation
Partnerships such as Directorate of Women Development, Goct. of Sindh and local civil society organizations are central to our successful Micro-entrepreneur programs. In order to grow, thrive and endure we are always looking for new partnerships.
We would like to learn more about how your initiative is financially supported. Please explain your business plan/revenue model
Approximately 250 words left (2000 characters).
The Story
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
WDF comes from an extension of the Women Skill Development Project (WSDP) established in 1994.
Tell us about the person—the social innovator—behind this idea.
Sabiha comes from an enterprising community in Memons. Her father was a leading figure in the community and her uncle was one of the pioneers of self-help development work in Lyari. Combining family inspirations with her own interest, she started to volunteer for LCDP, and quickly found herself devoted to its projects for female empowerment. Since the late 1980s, Sabiha has been the head of the women’s wing of LCDP, serving the organization in many ways.
Sabiha married late in life, waiting to find a person who would help her in her work rather than restrict her. She considers herself to be in a mid-career stage, gaining speed in order to jump orbit and scale up her work.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Personal contact at Changemakers
If through another source, please provide the information
ICRW
Does your project address any of the following barriers to women’s technology access and use?
Women’s time poverty, Social norms, Economic or institutional constraints, Women’s lack of involvement in the technology development process.
If you checked any of the boxes above, please explain how.
Approximately 250 words left (2000 characters).
Does your project involve women in one or more of the following stages of the technology lifecycle? Identification of the problem the technology will solve:
Market research, Technology introduction, Technology training.
If you checked any of the boxes above, please explain how you will ensure women’s involvement in each relevant phase of the technology lifecycle.
Approximately 250 words left (2000 characters).
If women are a focus of your project, how did this focus evolve?
The project focused on women from its conception..
Which type of women will your project reach directly?
Rural, Peri-urban, Low income.
In what ways does your project team/leadership involve women?
It is led by a woman/women., It is led by a woman/women from a developing country..
Has your organization formed any new partnerships in response to this challenge? If so, with what type/s of organization/s?
Has your project leadership had prior experience with the following?
Working with women, Working with technologies, Working to increase women's economic empowerment through technology, Working on innovation.
 | 162 weeks ago Bahiyah Yasmeen Robinson said: What an important initiative! Out of all the obstacles facing women in Pakistan today, which you listed, is there one solution that ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 162 weeks ago Sabiha Shah submitted this idea. |
