USAID’s three-day workshop on ‘women leadership in higher education’ starts

USAID’s three-day workshop on ‘women leadership in higher education’ starts

ISLAMABAD, Jun 13 (APP): The United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) three-day workshop on ‘women leadership in higher education’ started here on Monday.

Director of Education Office, USAID, Anne Flaker, participated in the opening session of the workshop, which was organized by the USAID-funded Higher Education System Strengthening Activity (HESSA).

The training workshop was designed for women leadership in higher education wherein 30 women faculty including heads of departments, administrators, finance experts, as well as management and academic affairs officers from HESSA partner higher education institutions (HEIs) participated.

Speaking at the occasion, Anne Flaker welcomed the women faculty participants and highlighted the need for them to identify their leadership strengths and areas of growth.
“At USAID, we view women’s empowerment and capacity development as central to Pakistan’s socio-economic growth.”

“Our programming strives to engage more women as leaders and promote gender equality to help reach all Pakistanis,” said Ms. Flaker.

The chief guest, Dr. Shaista Sohail, Executive Director of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), commended the Higher Education System Strengthening Activity project for implementing this timely initiative geared toward grooming a cadre of women leaders in higher education.

“I look forward to taking this discourse further in creating a conducive and wholesome work environment for women leadership in Pakistan,” Dr. Shaista remarked.

The former Advisor to the PM on Social Sector and current President of SZABIST, Shahnaz Wazir Ali, during her keynote speech, apprised about the significance of women’s leadership in creating a more informed society, including the importance of problem-solving skills.

The USAID-funded Higher Education System Strengthening is a five-year US$ 19 million project being implemented by the University of Utah and its consortium partners—the University of Alabama, and the Institute of International Education, in collaboration with select 15 public sector Pakistani universities, which include five women universities.

The project focuses on strengthening the capacity of HEIs to deliver market-driven education and research to enhance the employ-ability of graduates.

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