'Women struggle for everything in life'.

KARACHI -- To celebrate International Women's Day, the Aman Center for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) at IBA Karachi organized an "Unlocking the Power of Women Entrepreneurs" summit, in collaboration with the Click Sindh Investment Department on March 15 in Karachi. The summit aimed to address challenges and constraints faced by the women-owned businesses, particularly in Karachi.

Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation, Social Safety and Chairperson Benazir Income Support Programme Shazia Marri graced the event as the Chief Guest. The panelists included, Tara Uzra Dawood, CEO of Ladies Fund, Nadia Patel Gangjee, Founder Sheops and Founder and CEO Femprow, Saeeda Mandiwala, CEO Toni and Guy and CEO Spa Ceylon and lastly, Misbah Naqvi, Kauffman fellow and Co-founder i2i Ventures. The event was hosted by Aman CED IBA Director Dr Lalarukh Ejaz and moderated by IBA QEC head Dr Saima Husain.

IBA Karachi Executive Director Dr S Akbar Zaidi, with his powerful opening speech, began the event. He reiterated the importance of women participation in the workforce. He explained the reasons of gender gap in workforce by stating the women were kept devoid of opportunities and thus they fall behind men in labour participation. "Empowering women is giving them opportunities they have been denied, giving them access to finance, access to training."

Shazia Marri began her speech by stating how women have overcome prevailing challenges and struggles to prove their potential. "We have been able to make ourselves recognized," she said. She lauded the efforts of women that have led to abridge the gender gap in workforce but emphasized that there is still a long way to go in order to progress economically that can be...