KPK craftswomen find empowerment via online businesses

Traditional craftswomen from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are being coached by the National Incubation Center (NIC) to set up e-commerce businesses and market their products online. The initiative has been made so that they will regularly earn for their handicrafts.

According to Sana Tahseen Durrani, a part of the NIC and a digital entrepreneur, women in KPK that possess various crafts such as embroidery and sewing have significant potential if they market and sell their products online. The NIC desires to give them better opportunities and training to run these online businesses.

“Since 2014, we’ve been providing services to government and non-government organizations in the province in various fields, including software, photo, and video editing, mobile app designing, web designing, social media content writing, etc,” remarked Durrani.

“Likewise, our organization has started work on a training course to involve more women of KPK and enable them to learn online business training and graphic design to empower them further.”

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information and Technology (KPITB) board has also started various courses for women across the region, which is a welcome step towards empowering women. Durrani anticipated that with digital training, thousands of women in the region would earn online, creating thousands of jobs in the process.

The NIC has picked more than 30 women, most of whom are financially weak and homeless. Out of these 30 women, seven are over 40 years old and widows, while the remaining women are also financially weak.

Durrani said that after getting aid setting up their online business, the women associated with embroidery would take orders themselves and earn their living online.

Concurrently, Durrani said women from Shabqadar were introduced to a leading designer for free training to learn the latest techniques of embroidery and sewing, after which online orders of their products will be placed for them.

The garments will be marketed online, which will enable the women to earn their living and move in their business in the right direction financially.

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