Scope International Pvt. Ltd., wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Chartered Bank, UK, hosted a forum, titled `Power of corporate governance: Empowering marginalized women by providing them with job opportunities in the mainstream' in association with UNIFEM & NASSCOM today.

More than 50 representatives from the voluntary sector, corporates and entrepreneurs attended the deliberation, which urged all to participate in the empowerment of marginalized women, especially HIV/AIDS widows and their inclusion into the mainstream.

Edwin Nevis, CEO of Scope International said, "The effort is to ensure that more large and small scale corporate institutions become more socially responsible with regard to substantive focus on supporting marginalized women by providing them access to relevant training and opportunities for economic self sufficiency."

Sushma Kapoor, Deputy Regional Director, South Asia, UNIFEM said, "Over the years, UNIFEM's action for the advancement of women has taken clear directions and we are rapidly moving towards achieving our goals. We would like to have more corporates coming forward to support this initiative and make them inclusive. Scope International has been doing a remarkable job in improving the quality of life of women in the community through some of their initiatives and we wish them all the best in their continued efforts"

Case studies reflecting the successful engagement between corporates and the voluntary sector in empowering marginalized women were shared by eminent speakers and experts Dr Suniti Solomon, Founder, YRG Care and Nagasayee Malathy - Head of International Office of Mobility.

Shashi Ravichandran, Head, Corporate Affairs, Scope International who spoke on the company's focus on Employability of marginalised women & HIV/AIDS widows said, "Women's disempowerment is a reality in our communities and we have to recognize and take cognizance of the fact that this section needs a platform, opportunity and skill development to merge into the mainstream. At Scope, we are launching programmes that will address this aspect."

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by Nadhiya Mali (few years ago!)