January 18: Coca-Cola has successfully concluded its Saksham training programme which reached over 1000 women entrepreneurs from small and medium scale businesses in retail and restaurants, providing them a platform for empowerment and skill development.

Issuing a statement on January 17, Coca-Cola said that the ‘Saksham’ training programme was officially launched on 8th March 2022 coinciding with the International Women’s Day.

According to the statement, the programme was launched by Coca-Cola along with its bottling partner Bottlers Nepal Limited with an aim to provide equal opportunities for women to compete in the marketplace.

“The Saksham programme was designed to build the capacity of women-retailers and women-owned small restaurant owners on financial literacy, hospitality, sanitation management and use of digital wallet. The one-day training session was conducted across cities in Province 1, 2, 3 and 4.”

Geeta Shrestha from Sauraha shared her experience, “Saksham training is an inspiring session for young women entrepreneurs. I had started by own business with just Rs 160 about 44 years ago. With my hard work, I have been able to fulfill my dreams where I am now an owner of 2 houses along with a store and proudly able to support my family as a single woman.”

Similarly, Maya Pandey from Narayanghat expressed, “The Saksham programme provides us with skills to be economically empowered and has helped us build more networks over the years. Skill development programs like Saksham has encouraged me in doing business more efficiently.”

 Adarsh Awasthi, country director of Coca-Cola in Nepal shared, “At Coca-Cola, we believe in a better shared future, and women empowerment is core to our values. We launched the Saksham training programme in 2022 where we partnered with a proficient trainer to provide business skills training, mentoring networks, financial services and other assets to help women entrepreneurs improve their livelihoods, families and communities. We are happy that we have crossed our initial target of 1000 women entrepreneurs and will strive to further empower more women in the near future.”

The initiative also supports the government’s aim to achieve substantial gender equality by ensuring equal and meaningful participation of women as announced in the 15th National Plan (2019-2024), added the statement.