At the meeting, Founder and Managing Director Kashf Foundation Roshaneh Zafar presented information on the various aspects of Kashf’s work in the microfinance sector supported by Chief Operating Officer Kamran Azim, Chief Technology Officer Faisal Malik, and Manager Gender Empowerment Social Advocacy Hafsa Sajjad, who also shared the outcomes of the Kashf program since its inception. Indeed as the first specialized microfinance program in Pakistan, Kashf is currently operating in 27 districts in Pakistan through a network of 161 branches, positively affecting sustainable change in the lives of approximately 1.2 Million  beneficiaries comprising of women, men and their families with considerable multiplier effect.

The High Commissioner took specific interest in learning about the various businesses run by Kashf clients and the changes that clients had undergone in the process of availing microfinance services. He was specifically introduced to the work of Shaheen Akhtar, who runs a stitching business,who took her fourth loan from Kashf Foundation this year and who has enjoyed an almost decade long relationship with Kashf. Currently, she has been running her own small stitching school, where she is empowering young girls of her community by training them through her own skill sets. Other clients of the Kashf Foundation whom the delegation met were Rehmat Bashir, a client for the past 5 years who following an accident that left her immobile, now runs a successful shoe making business; Farida Saleem, a long term client who runs an embellishment factory that has ensured all seven of her children are being educated; Salma Baji who runs an innovative business of crochet handicrafts and accessories following her leanings from the Kashf Business Incubation Program; Mehnaz Baji, also a long standing Kashf Foundation client associated with the business of making and selling home accessories. Mehnaz’s husband, a strong advocate of women empowerment, urged her to turn her hobby and skill into home based business. Her enrollment into the Business Incubation Lab program helped her realize the importance of product innovation. 

Kashf Foundation is transforming the lives of women in Pakistan and the provision of financial services to Pakistani women is a key to alleviate poverty. 

For more information on Kashf Foundation’s services, products and ways to make a donation visit:

www.kashf.org

https://www.facebook.com/KashfFoundationOfficial

http://www.sosense.org/en/social-enterprise/77/program