Standard Chartered Bank donates Rs 5 million to Shequal Foundation to enhance skills of young women

Published On: August 4, 2023 07:30 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, Aug 4: Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Limited (SCBNL) has contributed Rs 5 million to Shequal Foundation’s ‘Silpa: Shaping the Future project’.

The campaign aims to create a lasting impact in the lives of young women from underprivileged backgrounds in Nepal through equipping them with essential skills and opportunities for personal and professional growth.

In this regard, Harsha Pillai, head at Corporate Affairs, Brand and Marketing of SCBNL, handed over a cheque of the aforementioned amount to Astha Sharma, managing director of Shequal Foundation on Thursday.

According to the SCBNL, the project focuses on empowering female school or higher secondary school dropouts from Bagmati Province and Koshi Province with certified blue-collar job skills. This is an extension of ‘Project KISHORI’, which is also supported by the Bank, aimed at providing foundational, financial, digital, and life skills to these women.

Project KISHORI will provide girls with necessary transferable life skills, while project Silpa will equip a few shortlisted females from the previous cohort with necessary training on industry driven jobs. The idea is to make them financially stable in the long run so that they are able to afford their own education.

“Through our partnership with the Shequal Foundation, we hope to encourage these young women from disadvantaged backgrounds to continue their education, while simultaneously improving their families’ living conditions through income-generating skill training,” said Pillai. “The project also aligns with our global initiative ‘Futuremakers by Standard Chartered’ aimed at empowering the next generation to learn, earn and grow.”

Sharma of Shequal Foundation praised the SCBNL’s support for the transformation in young women’s lives. “We are very grateful to the SCBNL for their generous contribution and believing in our mission to empower young women with vital skills for their brighter future,” she added.

The two projects, targeting more than 200 higher secondary female students, will be implemented in more than 10 public colleges across the seven provinces in the country, reads a press release issued by the SCBNL.