Empowerment is the process of
giving power or status to a person or a group in a particular situation.
Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social, or economic
strength of individuals and communities. Male and female are two components of
the human society. Both the species are harmonious and compatible to each other;
one cannot outlive without the other. Regardless of a minor physical and nominal
psychological differences between the two, Almighty God has conferred on them
with remarkable extraordinary, tear jerking and emotional facets that have
eventually made them interdependent and interactive.
"Quaid - e - Adam said in a speech in 1944 :
No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side
with you; we are victims of evil customs. It is a crime against humanity that
our women are shut up within the four walls of the houses as prisoners."
Again in another speech at Islamia College for Women on March 25, 1940 Quaid - e
- Azam said:
"I have always maintained that no nation can ever be worthy of its existence
that cannot take its women along with the men. No struggle can ever succeed
without women participating side by side with men. There are two powers in the
world one is the sword one is the sword and other is the pen. There is a great
competition and rivalry between the two. There is a third power stronger than
both, that is of the women." There is no chance of the welfare of the humanity
unless the condition of women is improved; it is not possible for a bird to fly
only on one wing," Said Vivekanada , an advocate of women.
Thus accordingly, empower is the state considered as a bird along with two two
wings, ie., man and woman to fly in the air. But over the centuries societies in
the world have been trying to fly only on one wing.
Women are the most important and integral part of a society. They are entitled
to equality in every sphere of life. Despite phenomenal changes across the world
the fate and status of women has not changed much. More than sixty years after
independence, 80 percent of Pakistani women are still subjected to domestic
violence. One out of three still has to endure villainy brutality like rape,
honour killing and acid attacks etc., Mostly women have been neglected specially
in our society although they have they have potential to play a multy dimension
vital role. Their dismal condition is proving a bolt from blue for our
country.The illiteracy backwardness prevailing in our country can directly be
attributed to the denied role of women in county's development.
Lack of access to resources like education, employment, justice, inheritance,
healthcare and nutrition are the major causes of women's backwardness in
Pakistan. It is admitted fact that menace of poverty is indeed a big problem in
the way of the women's development. Many women die after child birth, on account
of lack of medical facilities.Similarly, more than half the women in the country
cannot read or write. As Napolean said: give me good mother I'll give you a good
nation. So how important it is for a woman to be educated for country and its
citizen's betterment.
Almighty's best creation in known as women.Woman is the symbol of love, care,
devotion, determination, tenderness and intensity. Emotionally speaking women
are stronger than men.Even then they have been treated nicely by men- history is
the witness to this very truth. Women have been denied their basic rights and
opportunities.Pakistan's constitution guarantees the rights of women and does
not discriminate them in any walk of life.
How CCBPL is Empowering Women in Male - Dominated Society
Pakistan inherited the menace of poverty since its creation. The burden of
poverty has always been put on the female population which is 50 percent of the
total population of Pakistan. Research from the World World Bank, United
Nations, Global Entrepreneurship and Young and others demonstrate that the real
drivers of the economy are women... as business leaders, employees, consumers,
and entrepreneurs.
Women can yield a significant boost in economic growth.It so happens they
careful - do their homework, follow the rules and invest thoughtfully resulting
in better corporate performance.
Not long ago women face tremendous barriers as they sought opportunities that
would set them on an equal footing with men. A gradual change, however, is afoot
worldwide with more women pursuing male dominant jobs, such as doctors,
engineers, pilots, CEO, Army Officers and what not.
Pakistan has been proactive to get women educated themselves and enter the
workforce. According to Campbell - Kibler, there are myths present in the
society that women are often considered to be inferior physical, but
intellectually speaking they have enough capacity to sustain the family and
uplift the economic situation of Pakistan.
There is no end to this list of women who are breaking barriers and providing
themselves in different areas of workforce. Razzia Bhatti, a single mother from
Gujranwala recently employed at Coca- Cola Beverages Pakistan Limited(CCBPL) as
Safety on The Move Driver, believe that being a single female driver on the road
is difficult especially regarding the stereotype most women are subjected to,
that their driving capabilities are inferior to that of men. Her role as a
Safety on The Move Driver also involves enforcing and highlighting the
importance of safety culture with the organization well as distribution partners
on road safety, personal, safety and fire safety. With the supports of her
colleagues she has come far in the organization in a short duration due to her
fierce aim to break the label that men drive well than women and that as a woman
she has limited professional opportunities.
"As a woman coming from Gujranwala without support of a man in my family, I face
number of challenges on the road, when I know the people around us don't believe
in a woman who can drive. I come across many men who try and ridicule me on the
road - believe that a woman cannot drive a large truck. I love being that woman,
it makes me feel empowered, gives me the strength to break the barriers that
surround other women like me who are still just trying to make a living. I know
that I hold the future of my son in my hands and I'm willing to do what it takes
to help him achieve his dreams."
Tabassum Shabbir, also working at CCBPL as warehouse operator in Rahim Yar Khan
believes that her dream to get good education will not be in vain, as she is not
only helping herself but also contributing to the finances of her house.The work
timings at her job offer her the flexibility to pursue her dream education while
having her dream career.At the CCBPL the timing is very reasonable and it works
well in my favour so I am free at a reasonable hour. I have learnt so much here.
My aim is to get myself educated, I know I deserve it and to stay on board with
the CCBPL to grow my career over time.
Giving women their due importance, CCBPL became the first company in Pakistan to
hire and train female distributors. Their offices and plants are exemplary where
women are seen in tough jobs, such as truck drivers, fork lifters, security
officers, microbiologists and sales managers. In fact at the CCBPL, 33 percent
of the leadership team comprises of women and over the last two years, the
number of females working at the CCBPL has doubled and now 14.5 percent of their
women work at management positions. The company has encouraged women to
participate in the company's entire value chain by not only providing new job
opportunities in fields which women never even considered possible but by also
providing them the environment they can thrive in.
A country like Pakistan where women are confined to the four walls of a home to
cook, clean, take care of the children and the household and make themselves the
role model for their children. Their actions, reactions, opinions are taken
forward by their progeny. The growing empowerment of moment is evident when one
observes these women at the CCBPL from all walks of life being given the chance
to explore their strength and work upon their weaknesses and tackle the society
that labels them as weak.Such like stories give inspiration to those women who
have yet to discover their full potential , and make their living in an ideal
way.
Quote by Director Human Resource
"For centuries women have continued to inspire change and progress in society by
creating opportunities to grow. At Coca- Cola Beverages Pakistan Limited we have
harnessed this power and as an organization we promote diversity and equality
from grassroots to senior leadership level.. We acknowledge and celebrate our
savvy and successful women, empowering them further to make a difference in our
business, our communities and our world. Let's learn from each other and walk a
step further by enabling all women to take their rightful role at the decision
making table.Together we have the power to make it happen, the time to act is
Now ".....Amara Bashir
Director HR
Women and Coca- Cola Beverages Pakistan Limited (CCBPL ) has a comprehensive
strategy for women empowerment. This strategy is based on our own inviolable
behalf that the women of Pakistan are resolute and highly capable, and have a
definite role to perform for the healthy growth of Pakistan and for the
prosperity of our society in all possible ways.
Accordingly CCBPL actively recruits, grooms, retains, and grows talented young
women in its workforce. This is an integral element of our approach to corporate
social responsibility (CSR) .We believe in equality not only in term of gender
diversity, but more importantly in terms of offering equal opportunities to
women to build a career in virtually any of our business operations that is of
special interest to them and find more room to flourish.
Coca- Cola has provide grants to different NGO's for extending microfinance
loans to women entrepreneurs , and so far over 1850 women entrepreneurs have
directly benefitted . Then in a partnership with Buksh Foundation,Coca-Cola has
provided solar lighting to villages which have never had any electricity. Many
women entrepreneurs operating solar lamps recharging shops in these villages
have been directly empowered.Similarly women entrepreneurs have been developed
in the Swat valley, where they have been provided know-how, materials other
resources to take up honey bee farming as a sustainable income generating
vocation.