British Council To Invest Rs. 200 Million In Pakistan To Empower Women, Foster Youth Employment

The British Council will invest Rs 200 million in Pakistan through the Developing Inclusive and Creative Economies (DICE) programme to empower women and girls, foster youth employment and support disabled persons.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Oct, 2018 ) :The British Council will invest Rs 200 million in Pakistan through the Developing Inclusive and Creative Economies (DICE) programme to empower women and girls, foster youth employment and support disabled persons.

The new multi-year programme of DICE was launched by British Council at an event held here on Wednesday.

The programme will be delivered across five priority countries; Pakistan, South Africa, Egypt, Indonesia and Brazil as well as the UK.

To address challenges in emerging economies, the British Council programme draws on two of the UK's key assets; Social Enterprise and the Creative Industries. The Creative Industries alone contribute over �75bn to the UK economy and 1.8 million jobs. 70,000 social enterprises contribute �24 bln to the UK economy and sustain over one million jobs.

The British Council will invest Rs 200 million over the next two years to help grow the contribution social and creative enterprises make, nurture the people who run them and the policy which supports them, to the economy.

The key highlights from the DICE programme include the DICE Policy Series which will work towards policy interventions to help young people across the country begin their entrepreneurial journeys.

The DICE Fellowship aims to help 600 social and creative entrepreneurs, of which there will be 300 women leaders, develop through a programme delivered by the school of Leadership across 12 cities in Pakistan.

Welcoming guests to the event, Country Director, British Council Pakistan, Rosemary Hilhorst noted that "DICE will draw on the huge talent which exists in Pakistan and help unleash the potential of people and organisations who are working to improve lives, develop skills and create jobs.

"I am especially pleased about the DICE programme's focus on creating an enabling environment to empower women in Pakistan", the Country Director said.

During his keynote address, Dr. Rashid Bajwa, CEO of the National Rural Support Programme commented "Entrepreneurship is innate. Pakistanis are born entrepreneurs. A little support and a favourable policy environment can unleash the hidden entrepreneurship of our youth- men and women." The launch event featured a panel discussion moderated by Sidra Iqbal. Panelists included Usman Peerzada from the Rafi peer theatre; Seema Aziz from Sefam and Care Pakistan; Faraz Khan from Seed Ventures and Azima Dhanjee from ConnectHear.

The panel focused on highlighting the potential for employment and contribution to the economy through the growth of social and creative enterprises in Pakistan, and on building awareness of the challenges faced by individuals engaged in these sectors.

The DICE programme is poised to help the people, institutions and Government of Pakistan work together to develop an inclusive and creative economy in partnership with the UK.