ANJUMAN TARAQQI-E-NISWAN

SELF-EMPLOYED WOMEN'S FUND

(A Project of Anjuman Taraqqi-e-Niswan)

Karachi, Pakistan

 

Anjuman Taraqqi-e-Niswan(ATN) was established on March 8, 2003 with the following objectives:

 

1. To organize urban and rural women.

2. To promote women's traditional and home-based work and to help them earn better living.

3.  To raise awareness among women of their rights and responsibilities and to prepare them to struggle for their rights.

4. To improve and create better opportunities for female education.

5. To help working women to get proper payment and position equal to men.

6. To struggle for women's economic emancipation and elimination of gender bias in the society.

7. To help women acquire education and job outside their home.

8. To help women gain decison-making power.

9. To develop self-reliance among women.

10. To help women gain freedom to spend to spend their money as they like.


By taking up these objectives the group of college and university teachers, social workers, feminists, students and self-employed women groups laid down the foundation of ATN with this aim that women can be "an agent of change" in Pakistani society and their work should be done by women themselves. In view of this on Saturday the 8th March 2003 is declared as Youm-e-Tasis (Foundation Day) of ATN.

MEMBERSHIP RULES

1. Any women can become a member who is associated with any profession, skilled, mature and willing to do work, has the knowledge and understanding of daily affairs and follow the rules and regulations of the anjuman.

2. To become a member there is no restriction of education, language and religion.

3. Member woman should play a distinctive role in the development of the anjuman.

SELF-EMPLOYED WOMEN'S FUND

Self-Employed Women's Fund was established with the following objectives:

1. To provide education, information, micro-credit financing, technology transfer, and management skills.

2. To persuade self-employed women to form area-wise organizations and associations.

3. To select suitable women for loans in accordance with their skills.

4. To institute awards for the encouragement of the self-employed women.

5. To mount exhibitions for the display of these women's products.

6. To hold informative programs for the self-employed women.

7. To initiate various schemes for the betterment of the lives of the self-employed women and their families.

METHOD

 

Self- Employed Women;s Fund will provide loans to those women who want to start their own business or to those who want to extend their existing business. Advisory committee of the Fund will decide to whom loans should be given. For the time being loan is interest free but the self- employed women should arrange one guarantor at least. The loan must be repaid within the agreed period otherwise legal action could be taken. Loan seeking women would be divided into two groups each including five women. One woman from each group is selected through draw for giving the loan.