Economic development
Despite the economic and social barriers, there have been advances in the area of women's rights in the past few years. Although the region's economy is underdeveloped in comparison to other parts of Pakistan as there are no large-scale Industries, there is an expanding small-scale business sector that is creating opportunities for women. A market is growing that is relatively accessible to small-scale, self-employment ventures. Recognizing these opportunities, WWO designed a series of coordinated activities to tackle the entrenched and varied nature of women marginalization in the region. The overall objective was to enhance women's economic empowerment and equal participation in the workforce in Azad Jammu Kashmir. These activities capitalized upon the willingness of both the private sector and government agencies to bring more women into the workforce. Building upon WWO's two decades of experience, including founding and running the Bint-e-Hawa Mobile Business Development and Training Centre, activities were designed to benefit from the new opportunities. WWO identified entry points for women in the job market, organized business and vocational skills trainings and provided specific entrepreneurial start-up assistance to women.