SCF Launches Pakistans First Womens Climate Resilience Fund

• The Sindh Community Foundation launched the Women Economic Empowerment Fund (WEEF)
• WEEF Pakistan's first climate risk and shock resilience fund dedicated to women
• It plans to guarantee the livelihoods of women in the climate-affected areas of Sindh

A Women Economic Empowerment Fund (WEEF), adjudged to be Pakistan's first ever climate-related shock resilience funding with a specific focus on women, has been launched by the Sindh Community Foundation (SCF).

This fund is expected to ensure the safeguarding of livelihoods, make the community less vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and enhance economic resilience throughout the year, especially for women living in Sindh’s climate

In an interview with the Business Recorder, Javed Hussain, Executive Director of SCF, stated that climate change has ensured that poverty in rural areas has now become an all-year-round reality for which women are the first to fall when there is flooding, hot weather, and off-seasons.

However, WEEF is an indigenous initiative that aims to improve the economic leadership role of women for quick climate change shock recovery.

Rural women are major actors in Sindh's local economy, impacted by their involvement in activities like embroidery, food preservation, livestock rearing, poultry farming, and home-based industries.

However, their efforts tend to receive less focus because they lack financial resources, markets, technology, and other aspects related to industry development.

Inflation and climatic changes such as floods, droughts, cyclones, and heat waves remain a challenge to incomes and productive assets.

The climatic changes are further worsened by the seasonal slowdown of agricultural activities, which drags people deeper into food insecurity, debts, dropout rates of school-going children, and distress migration.

Notably, women are not allocated any funds for initiatives that can help them withstand these challenges when they are the most affected.

Speaking to this publication, Hira Arain, Managing Director of WEEF, argued that it was imperative to fill the gaps that exist to enable a fast and flexible financial system.

During its first phase, it will benefit over 2,000 women through climate-resilient or green business activities, off-season earning strategies, or fast disaster repayment.

It was structured to include no obstacles that exist within banks and to have a short project life that inefficiently excludes women from the rural area.

Hira further elaborated “WEEF supports women via pilot projects which have been started by SCF, and they’ve been quite successful in helping a total of 100 women establish their businesses in rural as well as green zones, apart from training a total of 1,026 women.”

The fund is concentrating on year-round income creation and fast recovery following disasters. WEEF provides structured, interest-free seed funding and a special Climate Risk and Shock Resilience Window to support quick stabilization and continued earnings for the women.