Coca-Cola empowers microfinance success story at Pakistan’s First Ever Beauty Expo

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir)  Coca-Cola Pakistan will be sponsoring Shabnam Bashir, an up and comingself-made beautician from Lahore, to participate in ‘Beyond Beautiful’ – the first ever beauty expo in Pakistan,to be held in Karachion January 26 and 27, 2019. Shabnam is one of the 7,500 beneficiaries from the Coca-Cola funded microfinance project ‘5by20 Pakistan’ in partnership with Kashf Foundation, and after qualifying in beautician courses through microfinance loans, Shabnam has now set up her at-home salon which has helped her regain her financial independence and better livelihood for her family. She will now have the opportunity to participate in a live makeup masterclass at the event to raise awareness for her fellow project beneficiaries.

Speaking about this opportunity, Rizwan Khan, General Manager Coca-Cola Pakistan & Afghanistan highlighted, “The Company has pledged to empower 5 million women by 2020 globally by providing them with microfinance loans and trainings in entrepreneurship. Our women can be truly empowered through financial independence and direct employment in the industry, and through Kashf and Catwalk’s support, we are raising awareness to secure placements for our 7,500 project beneficiaries in beauty, football stitching, handicrafts and retail industry.”

Beyond Beautiful is the first of its kind beauty expo in Pakistan which will highlight and showcase the crafts, products and innovation related to beauty and wellness industry, inviting professionals from across the globe to promote Pakistan’s local beauty industry. Moreover, it will provide a strong networking opportunity for women like Shabnam Bashir who are in the process of growing their at-home businesses in an extremely competitive industry.