SIALKOT - USAID has launched a project "Women Investment in Network of Dairy Investment (WINDS)” here on Thursday.
The launching ceremony was held at Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry(SCCI). Consul General Ms Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau, chief of Part USAID-PEEP, was the chief guest. Addressing the participants, she said that WINDS Project was an exemplary project was the first initiative in the field to be run by the USAID under its Punjab Enabling Environment Project (PEEP). It will provide opportunities of investment for th erural women in dairy development sector in Sialkot district.
USAID will give Rs3 million funds to the 30 selected local women for promoting the local dairy sector. She said that the project would be helpful in providing the employment opportunities to the women in Sialkot's rural areas. It will also ensure easy and smooth provision of safe and hygienic milk to the people.
She added that the WINDS project would be a five-year long project which would play a pivotal role in the development of livestock, dairy and agriculture sectors in Sialkot district under the joint supervision of USAID-PEEP and SCCI.
It will also strengthen the economic condition of the female farmers in Sialkot rural areas, she said. An MoU was also signed during the ceremony.
Senior officials of USAID-PEEP, SCCI, local livestock and dairy development department, a large number of exporters and Chairperson of SCCI's Committee for Women Entrepreneurs Dr Mariyam Nouman also also attended the ceremony.Under the WINDS project, the USAID experts gave necessary training to the rural areas' women in dairy development, milk testing and milk preservation training at SCCI.
USAID, Livestock and Dairy Development Department installed the awareness- stalls in and around the SCCI building. Eralier, a USAID delegation visited the DC Office Sialkot. The USAID officials discussed the matters of mutual interest with Sialkot district administration.