According to UN, Women’s empowerment has five components: women’s sense of self-worth; their right to have and to determine choices; their right to have access to opportunities and resources; their right to have the power to control their own lives, both within and outside the home; and their ability to influence the direction of social change to create a more just social and economic order, nationally and internationally. It has been observed in the past few years that individual social enterprises are having a positive impact in the field of women’s empowerment in Pakistan. Developing skills and creating jobs are the most common ways in which social enterprises in Pakistan are affecting women’s empowerment. According to a survey conducted by British Council Pakistan, 43 per cent of social enterprises stated that they were working to provide women a voice in their communities. The focus groups revealed that organisations were achieving this objective in different ways including by providing education to women, skills development initiatives for women, local advocacy forums for women and support for women’s micro businesses. Several of these entities were set up by individuals as pilot projects to provide women from poor backgrounds access to income generating opportunities.
The emergence of social enterprises to support women growth in business and entrepreneurship is a positive change to support gender equity in Pakistan. A variety of social enterprises are working in the country such as Circle Women, Invest2Innovate, Mera Maan, WECREATE, DoctHers, Ananke, WOWPK and many more. The team at Cyntax Health Projects is comprised of 50% female workforce. The team aims to make women financially independent by providing new economic opportunities through skill building and knowledge advancement, which will enable them to care for themselves and their families.