KARACHI: With the mission to ‘change the way world tackles poverty’, Jacqueline Novogratz stresses that there is a need to focus on using non-traditional models for providing sustainable livelihoods.

Ms Novogratz, founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, shared these views at a press conference held on Monday to mark the launch of ‘Eradicating Poverty through Entrepreneurship in Pakistan’.

The press conference was also addressed by Atif Bajwa, CEO, Bank Alfalah and country director Acumen Fund Farrukh H. Khan.

The initiative is a partnership between Acumen and Bank Alfalah, where the latter doled out $40,000 as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme.

On the occasion, details were shared regarding the upcoming initiative that aims to deal with poverty and pave way for more entrepreneurs.

The three companies selected for the Acumen-Bank Alfalah initiative include Pharmagen, a company which provides access to safe drinking water to some 80,000 families in urban areas; MicroDrip, a company that distributes low-cost drip irrigation technology to small farmers; and SRE Solutions, which installs off-grid solar energy systems in rural communities.

Speaking about the programme, Mr Bajwa said that in his opinion entrepreneurship was the only way to generate employment in the long run and his bank was a catalyst in this regard.

Responding to a question, Acumen’s country director said that for long term poverty alleviation, “the idea should be financially sustainable and must have social impact.”