Memon invites two young women to inspire BISP beneficiaries

ISLAMABAD:Minister of State and Chairperson BISP Marvi Memon on Wednesday invited two inspiring young women Mehak Gul and Kiran Khan to interact with the beneficiaries of BISP Programme and their children under the “Sisters in Success” initiative.

Memon, while addressing the event said that BISP is internationally recognised model and social safety net program that provides a unique forum for empowerment to the poorest women.

She said that the government is fully committed to cultivate an environment where women are respected and feel themselves elevated and empowered.

Mehak Gul is a Guiness World Record holder, and the youngest chess player from Pakistan to grab the title of ‘Women Candidate Master’ at World Chess Olympiad 2016.

The 16-year-old achieved this feat at 42nd World Chess Olympiad. She has represented Pakistan in international events since the age of twelve, and aspires to become Chess Grand Master.

Kiran Khan is first female international swimmer for Pakistan, who first came to national attention at the 28th Pakistan National Games in 2001.

She has represented Pakistan at the Olympics and other international forums. She brought sixty four international medals to Pakistan and has 347 national gold medals on her record. She was awarded the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz in 2014.

Mehak Gul and Kiran Khan narrated their success journey and highlighted that they are pioneers in the respective fields.

They said that it was a tough journey as there was no precedent but they never gave up and emerged victorious holding up the national flag.

They encouraged the beneficiaries that life may be difficult but not impossible, and they should try their best to overcome the miseries of poverty. They appreciated BISP for its efforts for the downtrodden and marginalised segments of society.

Both champions conveyed their concerns to Memon regarding lack of patronage from government and shortage of funds because of which they were unable to participate in number of international events.

The minister assured them that she would take up the matter with Prime Minister and the concerned ministry.

Ms. Memon said that women empowerment and gender equality is foremost on the agenda of the government, which had committed to women empowerment as a key priority area across all sectors of planning and development.

“Sisters in Success” is a BISP initiative to encourage idea generation and success transfer to motivate the BISP beneficiaries. These events provide an opportunity to poor women beneficiaries to draw inspiration from interaction with accomplished women.

The initiative brings international and national women role models in front of beneficiaries to instill hope and motivation so they may break the shackles of poverty and emerge empowered in true sense.