Mobilink Doubles Down on Climate Action with Gender Focus

News Desk

Islamabad: Pakistan’s leading digital microfinance institution, Mobilink Bank, reaffirmed its commitment to fostering gender-responsive climate finance at the Conference of the Parties (COP28) held in UAE.

Chief Operating Officer Haaris Mahmood Chaudhary addressed an engaging panel on the importance of gender-intentional green financing for combating climate change.

According to details, Mobilink Bank is part of the VEON group, a global digital operator that provides converged connectivity and online services across seven countries. As part of its digital operator strategy, VEON is transforming people’s lives by creating opportunities for increased digital inclusion and driving economic growth across countries home to more than 8 percent of the world’s population.

It allocated subsidized financing exceeding Rs 12 billion to over 66,000 female customers: CEO Haaris Mahmood

The Bank’s policies align with VEON’s strategy, underpinned by a steadfast commitment to sustainability, diversity, and inclusion, while fostering digital entrepreneurship, greater digital skills, literacy, and new job opportunities in its communities.

The event reinforced it’s standing as an environmentally conscious and responsible business entity, besides firmly establishing Pakistan on the map of emergent global discourses on climate finance. The bank is among the first movers of climate finance in the country and has invested over Rs1.6 billion in green financing, primarily focusing on loans for solar applications in agriculture to promote renewable energy.

During the panel discussion, Haaris Chaudhary emphasised the Bank’s role in fostering gender inclusivity in climate finance, primarily within the agricultural sector, by providing women with resources, knowledge, and decision-making authority under its flagship Women Inspirational Network (WIN) programme.

The bank has extended financial savings and insurance products to more than 140,000 women in the microfinance sector: Haaris Mahmood

The bank has extended financial savings and insurance products to more than 140,000 women in the microfinance sector, helping them prepare for and navigate the challenges associated with climate change and economic uncertainty.

He further stated that the bank allocated subsidised financing exceeding Rs 12 billion to over 66,000 female customers and continues to provide digital, financial, and agritech solutions to farmers, enhancing sustainable agricultural practises.