Lahore, January 14, 2013: Following the success of the 2011/12 Coca-Cola
Pakistan and Kashf Foundation partnership to promote women empowerment, Coca-Cola
has extended its project appropriately titled “Women Economic Empowerment” for
another year. A further grant of Rs. 9.8 million will be utilized for establishing sustainable income
streams to economically empower women through microfinance.
The project intends to provide direct financial
access via soft loans to 350 female clients from South Punjab and Sindh, whilst
simultaneously building support networks and developing personalized entrepreneurial
skills amongst the beneficiaries, to augment their business acumen. It
is projected that within 2 years, these women entrepreneurs will already be
seeing a 10% increase in their annual income.
Speaking about the Coca-Cola and Kashf Partnership,
Rizwan U. Khan, General Manager, The Coca-Cola Export Corporation, Pakistan and
Afghanistan stated: “At Coca-Cola we believe that women are a vital pillar of
society and an integral facet for
the economic development of Pakistan. The Coca-Cola and KASHF Partnership serves
as a prime example of empowering women and communities to help build a
sustainable tomorrow for the people of Pakistan.”
Coca-Cola and Kashf Foundation have been
successfully working together by enabling women entrepreneurs’ from low income
communities to get access to finance in order to grow their businesses and consequently
to alleviate poverty and provide a
sustainable future for their families. “Through this partnership Coca-Cola and Kashf
have demonstrated that in a society where women's economic contributions
are not readily accepted, access to finance combined with business
advisory services are effective measures for empowering women and enhancing
their dignity and self-respect” stated Roshaneh Zafar, Founder and Managing
Director, Kashf Foundation.
The Coca-Cola and KASHF partnership that commenced in 2011-12 has already
benefited 350 low-income female entrepreneurs in Lahore and Karachi to
set up or expand small businesses. These loans were invested in a range of
business ventures, and helped these businesses increase revenues, thus
resulting in enhancement of family incomes. This year, the partnership will
provide financial access to another 350 beneficiaries.
Coca-Cola
Pakistan is one of the leading corporate organizations with a diverse and
evolving CSR portfolio. Currently their CSR strategy focuses on three core
areas; Environment & Water Stewardship, Education and Women Empowerment.
About The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola
Company (NYSE: KO) is the world's largest
beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still
brands. Led by Coca-Cola, the world's
most valuable brand, our Company's portfolio features 15 billion-dollar brands
including Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola Zero, vitaminwater, Powerade,
Minute Maid, Simply, Georgia and Del Valle. Globally, we are the No. 1 provider
of sparkling beverages, ready-to-drink coffees, and juices and juice
drinks. Through the world's largest
beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy our
beverages at a rate of 1.8 billion servings a day. With an enduring commitment to building
sustainable communities, our Company is focused on initiatives that reduce our
environmental footprint, support active, healthy living, create a safe, inclusive
work environment for our associates, and enhance the economic development of
the communities where we operate.
Together with our bottling partners, we rank among the world's top 10
private employers with more than 700,000 system associates. For more information, visit Coca-Cola Journey at www.coca-colacompany.com, follow us
on Twitter at twitter.com/CocaColaCo or check out our blog,
Coca-Cola Unbottled, at www.coca-colablog.com.
About KASHF Foundation
Kashf Foundation is Pakistan’s
premier microfinance institution. Since its establishment in 1996 Kashf
Foundation has been able to successfully demonstrate the business case for
investing in low-income households, especially women. Kashf Foundation was able
to successfully adapt the credit methodology of the Nobel Peace Prize awarded
Grameen Bank in Bangladesh to the context of Pakistan. The raison d'être for
establishment was simple; poverty reduction for poor and economically
marginalized households, especially women. This has been the guiding ethos for
the Foundation over the past 16 years. In line with this ethos, Kashf
Foundation has remained on the cutting edge of product and process innovation
in microfinance to ensure that Kashf’s products and services are holistically
transforming the lives of its clients. Kashf Foundation runs a dynamic program
through its network of 147 branches set up across 25 districts in Punjab and
Karachi district. The Foundation employs over 1,600 employees and boasts one of
the best field based work-force gender ratios for Asia, i.e. 51% of the entire
field workforce is female.
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