Press Release: The Kashf Foundation, founded in 1996 as Pakistan’s first specialized and women
focused microfinance institution, commemorated two decades of pioneering social
entrepreneurship and positively impacting the lives of over 1.7 million
low-income women in Pakistan.
In
celebration of their 20 years, the Kashf Foundation collaborated with Pakistan’s
most iconic and indeed philanthropic fashion designer Hassan Sheheryar Yasin
[HSY] whereby HSY created a one of its kind 20 piece collection with each piece
representing the twenty years journey of Kashf and used the handiwork of twenty
Kashf clients. This collection was exhibited as an installation via an
exclusive media event which was held at Escort Gardens, Johar Town Lahore.
The occasion was attended and supporting by
PMNL’s MNA Marvi Memon along with stalwarts from the corporate, media and entertainment
industry including Razzaq Dawood, Seema Aziz, Fakir Aijazuddin, Asim Zafar, Ali
Zafar, Rizwan U Khan, Fahad Qadir, Yousuf Salahuddin, Sulaiman Ghani, Aamna
Taseer, Naseer Turabi, David Gilles, Faisal Ijaz Khan, Hajeeb ur Rehman, Najam
Ahmed Shah, Tahira Syed and Vaneeza Ahmad. The event was designed and managed
by J&S Events.
Speaking about Kashf Foundation’s 20 years, Roshaneh
Zafar, Founder and Managing Director of Kashf Foundation, said “It is in an incredible achievement for all
of us at Kashf to be celebrating two decades of socially driven
entrepreneurship. The real heroes in these 20 years have been our clients who
have persevered against all odds; take for example the story of Asmat Zahra who
used to produce school-bags for a middle-man; work was erratic and the wages
were low. She decided to access Kashf capital to start a business and today she
produces around 400 school-bags per week and supplies them to multiple cities,
earning handsome profits through which she is financially and economically
independent. Kashf has been able to set a precedent for financial independence
among women, a sense of empowerment and as means to better their income and
lifestyle.”
Over
the past two decades, Kashf has successfully championed the case for women’s
financial inclusion, and has shown that women are bankable, credit-worthy,
effective business managers and sound decision-makers. At the same time, Kashf
has continued to innovate on its suite of financial and non-financial services
to ensure impact on the lives of women and their families. Kashf has
cumulatively disbursed over 2.8 million loans amounting to over PKR 44 billion
to low-income households, which have helped them set-up/expand micro-businesses
to increase their incomes, savings, and standard of living. These households
have also been able to create safety nets through life and health insurance,
and have been able to improve their financial management and business
development skills through Kashf’s capacity building trainings. Kashf has also
focused on addressing community level and societal obstacles to women’s
economic empowerment through a vibrant social advocacy campaign centred around
social theatre, gender justice trainings, and public service messages.
HSY, Roshaneh Zafar, Jalal Salahuddin
For more information on
Kashf Foundation’s services, products and ways to make a donation please visit:
Press Release:
PR: Lotus Client Management
They have been working a lot on multiple dimensions. Quite the info . Well reviewed dear :)
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