Bhubaneswar: Odisha on Monday launched Mission Shakti Living Lab project with an aim to empower women economically and drive gender equality.
The Department of Mission Shakti and United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), signed an agreement in this regard on the day.
A joint initiative designed by state government and UNCDF through its Centre for Financial Health, there are 6.02 lakh SHGs comprising 70 lakh members under Mission Shakti across rural and urban areas of the state.
Signing the agreement, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Department of Mission Shakti, Sujata R. Karthikeyan said “Economic empowerment of women is critical and through this partnership we aim to use customised technology to increase women’s participation in the local economy and enhance incomes. This partnership will also accelerate women’s’ access to digital services helping women micro entrepreneurs.”
Director of Inclusive Digital Economies practice at UNCDF Henri Dommel said “The Mission Shakti Living Lab will incubate, scale and drive innovative digital solutions to create conditions for women to be financially healthy through the creation of fair and stable markets for their products.”
It will help 10,000 women-led micro-enterprises get better access to affordable market opportunities, capital for business promotion, and market solutions for better linkages. The programme will improve the ability of SHG members and households to plan, save,
borrow or spend better thereby improving their financial wellbeing, she added.
