TiE Islamabad welcomed the UN Women Pakistan team last week for a quarterly review of D4WEE, a digitalization programme that aims to widen women’s participation in the economy. The review gave both sides an opportunity to reflect on the progress made so far and on the impact taking shape across the Multipurpose Centres that have been established in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The meeting was framed around a simple idea: that the results of a development programme are best seen in the opportunities being created on the ground, in the centers where women come to learn, build skills and begin to earn.
D4WEE works on several fronts at once. Women taking part gain access to digital skills and entrepreneurship support, along with mentorship, learning and new economic opportunities. The aim is to equip women with the tools and confidence to take a more active part in the digital economy, whether that means starting a business, finding online work or building skills that open doors to employment. The programme runs for four years from 2024 to 2028 and focuses on young women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with the Multipurpose Centres serving as the physical hubs where training and support are delivered.
The programme is carried out with the support of UN Women Pakistan and the Korea International Cooperation Agency. TiE Islamabad leads its delivery in collaboration with Akhter Hameed Khan Foundation and Code for Pakistan, and the quarterly review brought these organizations together to look at how the work is moving forward. TiE Islamabad has stated its commitment to reaching more than 6,000 women across Mardan, Swat and Peshawar, a target that gives the review a clear measure against which progress can be assessed. Regular reviews of this kind allow the organizations involved to compare what has been achieved with what was planned, and to adjust their approach where needed.
The organizers described the progress so far as encouraging and said the work continues. For women in the three districts, the practical test of the programme will be whether the centers lead to real skills, real businesses and real income, and the quarterly review is one of the ways the programme checks its results along the way. As D4WEE moves through the remaining years of its schedule, the experience of the established centers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will shape how the programme grows and how many women it is able to reach.
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