August 4: Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Limited (SCBNL) announced it has contributed Rs 5 million to Shequal Foundation’s ‘Silpa: Shaping the Future’ project to create what the bank calls a lasting impact in the lives of young women from underprivileged backgrounds in Nepal. The project aims to equip them with essential skills and opportunities for personal and professional growth, reads a statement issued by the bank.

According to SCBNL, the project is focussed on empowering female school or higher secondary school dropouts from Bagmati and Koshi provinces 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, added the statement.

The bank said that Project KISHORI will provide girls with necessary transferable and 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 for the long run so that they are able to afford their own education. 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, the statement further said.

Harsha Pillai, head of Corporate Affairs, Brand and Marketing of Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Limited (SCBNL) said at the cheque handover event that the bank hopes to encourage the young women from disadvantaged backgrounds to continue their education, while simultaneously improving their family's living conditions through income-generating skill training through the bank’s partnership with Shequal Foundation.

“The project also aligns with our global initiative ‘Futuremakers by Standard Chartered’ aimed at empowering the next generation to learn, earn and grow,” added Pillai.

Astha Sharma, managing director of Shequal Foundation, shared that Standard Chartered Bank’s invaluable support for the project has been a catalyst for positive change for the transformation in young women’s lives.

“We are very grateful to SCBNL for their generous contribution and believing in our mission to empower young women with vital skills for their brighter future,” the statement quoted Sharma as saying.