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FICCI and Meta to digitally enable 500,000 women entrepreneurs
Sep 26, 2022
Hyderabad, 26 September 2022: FICCI and Meta, jointly with FLO Hyderabad and We Hub, organised a Workshop on 'Leveraging social media tools for Women-led Small and Medium Businesses'. The workshop was the first in the series of offline engagements to be organised across India under the partnership between Meta's #SheMeansBusiness programme and FICCI-FLO's 'Empowering the Greater50' mission to digitally enable 500,000 women entrepreneurs across India. In addition, expert trainers would also conduct online workshops through the Greater50 Facebook page.
Women entrepreneurship is an untapped opportunity which can
significantly accelerate India's growth. The workshop aims to train women
entrepreneurs to grow their businesses using social media and gain in-depth
knowledge of digital tools and critical aspects of digital marketing. The
workshop participants also received hands-on training using Meta Business
Coach, an interactive WhatsApp chatbot.
Welcoming the participants, Dr Sangita Reddy, Past President, FICCI and Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Enterprises, said, "FICCI's Empowering the Greater50 mission has combined synergies with the #SheMeansBusiness program of Meta, which fully recognises the importance of technology, especially social media, to enable a supportive environment for women-led SMBs to grow and sustain". She noted that India is moving at a tremendous pace on its journey towards being a digitally empowered society, and the power of connecting and using technology to empower women is intuitively coming to us.
Sri Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce & Information Technology, Government of Telangana, said, "Today, successful entrepreneurship requires digital skills and a drive for innovation. The digitalisation of production processes and adoption of digital tools & technology by businesses allow for new business models and facilitate the realisation of entrepreneurial projects."
Ms Deepthi Ravula, CEO of WE Hub, said, "In an ecosystem to further women entrepreneurship, collaborative efforts between key stakeholders and enablers are the only means to strengthen the avenues available for women entrepreneurs in achieving a well-rounded development. To this end, we can proudly say that the association between WE Hub and FICCI exhibits commitment towards this ethos". She also thanked Meta for being part of this journey to scale up women entrepreneurs."
Ms Shubhra Maheshwari, Chairperson, FICCI FLO Hyderabad Chapter, also spoke at the occasion and highlighted the importance of digital platforms in women-led businesses. The event also witnessed participation from Madhu Singh Sirohi, Head of Policy Programs and Outreach, India, at Meta.
About FICCI-FLO Empowering the Greater 50 campaign.
With the vision of empowering women- the Greater50%, at every level of the economy and enterprise, FICCI & FICCI Ladies Organization initiated a mega mission called 'Empowering the Greater 50%' in June 2020. Launched by Ms Smriti Irani, Minister of Women and Child Development and Minister of Textiles, Government of India, this ambitious mission is designed to SUPPORT, EMPOWER AND INSPIRE women in all walks of life. It is chaired by Dr Sangita Reddy, Past President FICCI and Joint MD Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Pvt Ltd. This mission lays special emphasis on enhancing the entrepreneurial and decision-making skills of women through various offerings, including Mentorship programmes, digital literacy and digital financial literacy workshops, pre-incubation and incubation programmes for women, skilling and upskilling, Call for Action Framework for Gender Equity, Training of Women on Corporate Boards, supporting Women in STEM, inspirational talks and expert deliberations on Training for Gender inclusion in the workplace, Women on Corporate Boards, Digital Financial Literacy workshops, Mentorship programmes, Skilling and Capacity Building, awareness of basic legal rights in the workplace, livelihood interventions through CSR, Inspirational Talks to support women in STEM, Mental Health and wellness workshops etc.
About #SheMeansBusiness Programme
#SheMeansBusiness is Meta's longest-running and most
comprehensive Diversity and Inclusion program. Launched on International
Women's Day in 2016, the program aims to support female-owned enterprises to
enter the digital economy through digital skills training and business
inspiration by providing tools, training and resources to help them grow their
business. Since then, the program has grown to train over 1 million women
across 38 markets through a global network of over 40 community partners. This
program helps empower women entrepreneurs worldwide and has been praised by key
audiences globally.