Shakti Foundation for Disadvantaged Women organized an event titled, “Shakti Celebrates: I Dared to Dream” on 10 March, 2020 in celebration of International Women’s Day. To celebrate the beauty of womanhood, this program was held into two sections and these are – WE Celebrate and WE Dialogue.
The inspiring stories of 4 of Shakti members have been showed in the “WE Celebrate” part. Their stories portrayed not only how they have become successful entrepreneurs with the help of Shakti but also how they have overcome enormous difficulties in lives with their strong inner power.
In the “WE Dialogue” session, there was a panel discussion on “Challenges in Pursuing Our Dream: The Way Forward.”
The panel discussion was moderated by Mr. Imran Ahmed, Deputy Executive Director and Head of Programs of Shakti Foundation. The panelists were -
- Mr. Atiqul Islam, Honorable Mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation
- Ms. Naheed Ezaher Khan, Honorable Member of Parliament
- Ms. Judith Herbertson, Head of DFID Bangladesh
- Mr. Imran Matin, Country Director of International Growth Centre
- Ms. Sonia Bashir Kabir, Founder and CEO of SBK Foundation
- Ms. Humaira Islam, PhD, Founder and Executive Director of Shakti
To commemorate the birth centenary of our father of the nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Shakti has taken initiatives to make more impacts on women’s lives with WE Declare. Ms. Humaira Islam, PhD, Executive Director of Shakti declared 7 initiatives to empower women -
- Graduate 1,000 microentrepreneurs into women led enterprises
- 5 lac sanitary napkins at 1 taka each
- Ante and postnatal checkup at minimal cost
- Free vitamin supplements for pregnant women
- Free neonatal checkup
- Scholarships upto HSC to ensure no girl is left behind
- Women’s Rights Awareness campaigns against violence and harassment
To make Bangladesh more women friendly, the panelists in WE Dialogue expressed their commitment to work for women empowerment in the present scenario within their capabilities.