Odisha govt partners with UNCDF to advance women's economic empowerment

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], December 14 : The Odisha government through the Department of Mission Shakti and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), signed an agreement on Monday and launched the 'Mission Shakti - Living Lab' project to empower women economically and drive gender equality.
There are 6.02 lakh SHGs comprising of 70 lakh members organised under Mission Shakti
across rural and urban areas of the state.
Sujata R. Karthikeyan, Commissioner cum Secretary, Department of Mission Shakti, while signing the agreement 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," Karthikeyan said.
Henri Dommel, Director of Inclusive Digital Economies practice at UNCDF said, "We have a real opportunity to use new technologies and infrastructure to enhance women's financial security and financial freedom and to move towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)."
"The socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on women can only be lessened if we purposefully target and invest in women. UNCDF is proud to be partnering with Mission Shakti through its Centre for Financial Health," he added.
Speaking further, Dommel said this partnership will drive its efforts in improving women's agency and financial resilience. "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."