Sindh Women Development Department is establishing a chain of complaint centres for facilitating women in crisis and rendering legal, medical and counselling services to them, official sources told APP.
The department is also setting up shelter homes for needy women on a pilot basis while there are schemes for setting up working women hostels in different districts as a tool for social development of women.
The sources said that the women development department has evolved a range of programs for extending support services for empowerment of women.
Their greatest achievement in past year had been the Women's Training Program under Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Youth Development Program, aimed at providing opportunities of skill development in areas that have a clear marked demand and which can be expected to raise employment opportunities for women.
The major areas of training were in the field of enterpreneurship development, beautician training and secretarial skill development training. Approximately 600 women from all over Sindh are receiving training under this program, the sources pointed out.
The second important initiative is to extend micro-finance scheme to poor women through SRSO and so far 3133 destitute women have been provided interest-free credit amounting to Rs 37.596 million. Sources said this program would be further expanded after assessing the impacts on completion of first phase.
According to details available till March 2009, a credit of Rs 2.70 million had been disbursed among 225 women in Ghotki, Rs 2.460 million among 205 women in Jacobabad, Rs 359,000 among 30 women in Kandhkot, Rs 4.040 million among 337 women in Khairpur, Rs 7.626 million among 636 women in Larkana, Rs 3.810 million among 316 women in Naushehro Feroz, Rs 4.145 million among 345 women in Shahdadkot, Rs 2.513 million among 209 women in Shikarpur, Rs 5.143 million among 429 women in Sukkur, Rs 1.50 million among 125 women in Mithi, Rs 1.90 million among 158 wmen in Umerkot and Rs 1.90 million among 158 women in Dadu.