Telenor celebrates International Women’s Day with emphasis on Empowering Women

International Women’s Day was celebrated today at Telenor’s 345 campus to commemorate the vital role of women in the society. The event spread over panel discussion with female leaders and an emerging entrepreneur, primarily focusing on ‘Empowering Women’. A Free medical checkup for females along with a health seminar was also organized to help raise awareness on female health.

The event focused on highlighting the role of women in the tech industry as well as on fostering diversity and inclusion across different fields of life. The event was attended by officials, business leaders, professionals and thought leaders fromthe government and private sectors, NGOs, students, start up industry and Telenor Pakistan.

Business leaders and accomplished female professionals, including Hania from the music group Zeb & Hania, Osama Abid, founder of DIY Geeks, Zeenat Khan, ownerof Pappasalis Restaurant, Madiha Ilahi, Head of PMO at Teradeta, Khurram Rahat,Head of Data as a Service (DaaS) at Telenor Pakistan and Mrs. Shabnam Ashraf, owner of PSI School System shared their experiences and thoughts at the panel discussion, themed: ‘Challenges faced by women entrepreneurs and professionals in Pakistan’.

The discussion was opened with a key note by Durdana Achakzai, CDO Telenor Pakistan where she was quoted saying,“The world is aspiring for more gender parity, which I believe cannot be achieved without empowering women and working for their inclusion in the nation building process. Female professionals and entrepreneurs are making their mark across diverse industries despite numerous challenges. It is high time their potential is recognized and duly integrated in efforts for socio-economic progress.Also, companies with gender diversity are 15 percent more likely to have better financial returns than their counter parts. Telenor has set the right precedents for women empowerment through its diversity and inclusion initiatives. These initiatives are fueled by our long term commitment to empower Pakistani society.”

A Women Health Seminar was organized to discuss and raise awareness regarding common health problems faced by women. Health kiosks were set up across the premises to offer free checkup facilities to the participants. The paramedical staff advised women on a number of health issues, besides offering multiple free and discounted screening tests on the spot.

Telenor Pakistan is a leading proponent of gender parity and women empowerment, which contributes toward its vision of‘empowering societies’. The company’s initiatives aimed at fostering diversity and inclusion in workplace were recognized at the recent“Diversity and Inclusion Conference 2018” held in Karachi where Telenor Pakistan won Best practice award for Diversity and Inclusion in the category of Flexibility, Work life Integration and Benefits.