March 8: Coca-Cola, one of the leading soft drinks brand across the globe, has expressed its commitment to make a positive impact in society by empowering women at workplace and beyond through its strategic approaches.  Under this initiative, Coca-Cola’s distributors in Nepal has commenced the ‘Saksham’ training programme that intends to train 1000 women who have been running grocery stores and small eatery outlets across the value chain in Nepal.

The campaign backs the theme of International Women’s Day 2022, which is "Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow" with an effort to make these women ‘capable’ to take their rightful place as equals in the economy, Coca-Cola said in a statement on March 7.

According to the company, the program seeks to impart knowledge and training that will create a conducive environment for innovation and growth, ultimately leading to economic development of the nation. 

“Thus, Saksham programme has been designed to build the capacity of the women retailers and small restaurant owners on financial literacy, hospitality, and sanitation management, and use of digital wallet,” the statement added.

Adarsh Awasthi, country director of Coca-Cola in Nepal, shared that the company believes that when a woman is empowered, the whole nation is empowered.

“And it is really overwhelming to see the positive transformations we have been able to make in their lives through our previous training programs such as 5by20 and the STAR program. Now as we embark on a new program to support and empower 1000 female entrepreneurs of value chain, we hope to make a humble and impactful difference in their lives,” the statement quoted Awasthi as saying.

Pradip Pandey, managing director of Bottlers Nepal Limited, shared that the programme focuses on fostering the capabilities of women entrepreneurs running grocery stores and small eatery outlets by enhancing their knowledge that helps to build confidence and provides access to opportunities in the modern world.

Coca-Cola said it has taken various initiatives to empower women including the ambitious 5by20 programme announced in 2010 which aimed to enable the economic empowerment of 5 million female entrepreneurs across its value chain by 2020.

Additionally, Coca-Cola Nepal also successfully conducted the STAR (Shopkeeper Training and Resources) program to train 5,800 women during the past six years.