International Women’s Day 2026, under the UN Women theme “Rights. Justice. Action. For All Women and Girls,” calls for moving beyond promises to measurable progress in advancing gender equality. In Pakistan, women’s entrepreneurship holds significant potential for inclusive economic growth and community resilience, yet women continue to face barriers such as limited access to finance, markets, digital tools and supportive policies particularly in rural and informal sectors. Despite these challenges, emerging women-led enterprises and femtech startups are integrating business with social impact, improving access to menstrual and reproductive health solutions and leveraging technology to create scalable, dignity-centred innovations. Strengthening this ecosystem is essential to translating rights and justice into real economic and social empowerment for women and girls.

The Women Empowerment and Wellness Conference (WEWCON 2026) is conceived as a national, action-oriented platform to respond to this moment. Anchored in the IWD 2026 theme, WEWCON 2026 aims to bridge the gap between rights and justice and practical economic action by strengthening women’s entrepreneurship ecosystems and amplifying models that work. The conference will convene policymakers, development partners, financial institutions, corporate leaders, chambers of commerce, academia, civil society, women entrepreneurs and femtech innovators to collectively identify solutions, share evidence and mobilize partnerships. By integrating femtech into the conference agenda, WEWCON 2026 will spotlight women-led health startups that are addressing unmet health needs through digital platforms, data-driven tools and user-centered design. The conference will also explore how supportive policies, investment, research and cross-sector collaboration can enable femtech solutions to scale responsibly, improve access to care, reduce stigma and create new economic opportunities for women.

Mission

The mission of PIWDC 2026 is to close the gap between rights, justice, and real economic opportunities by strengthening women’s entrepreneurship ecosystems and promoting successful, scalable models in Pakistan.

Objectives

  1. Strengthen women’s economic empowerment by addressing systemic gaps in entrepreneurship, access to finance, markets, skills and enabling policies that limit women’s full economic participation.
  2. Promote inclusive and sustainable women-led business ecosystems across Pakistan, with a focus on micro, small, and medium enterprises, community-based models and women-led value chains.
  3. Strengthen institutional, workplace, and community responses to women’s health needs by promoting gender-responsive policies, period-positive workplaces and health-supportive education systems.
  4. Facilitate cross-sector dialogue between women entrepreneurs, government institutions, development partners, donors, financial institutions, healthcare stakeholders, educators and private sector actors to foster integrated solutions.