[Music] of women and girls in Pakistan face many challenges in continuing their education including Financial limitations the Scottish government firmly believes that Finance shouldn't be a barrier to female education that's why in 2013 in partnership with the British Council they launched the Pakistan Scottish scholarship scheme this scheme aims to provide financial support to girls and women across the country who most need it so they can continue in education so they can reach their potential so they can support their families communities and contribute fully to society since the launch of this scheme we have supported over 18,000 girls and women in schools and universities across Pakistan and 3,800 in the last year alone the past year has been an increasingly challenging one for Pakistan with floods affecting large parts of the country the Scottish government generously responded by allocating an extra £500,000 so we could support girls and women in these foood affected areas as a result we were able to provide 950 scholarships to school girls and 284 scholarships to young women in universities in these areas this is not the first time the Scottish government has responded to changing circumstances on the ground during the co pandemic when education institutions closed and learning moved online or from home the Scottish government allocated extra funding so we could purchase laptops for our Scholars so they could continue with their Learning Journey it's really important that we continue to support female education especially at a time when there are over 22 million children out of school in Pakistan these scholarships make a huge difference in the lives of those receiving them so I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Scottish government for this most important life-changing scheme [Music] the Scottish government is proud to fund the Scotland Pakistan scholarships for young women and girls the voices on this video make it clear the huge impact that these scholarships have not just on the awardees but on their families and communities in Scotland we are committed to equality and firmly believe that no one should be denied rights or opportunities because of their gender this commitment carries forward to an International Development investment where the advancement of equality of women and girls are key themes for our work this is why I'm so pleased that these scholarships have such an impact I would like to thank the British Council in Pakistan for delivering the program and I'd also like to thank every one of the recipients of these scholarships for demonstrating the power of Education the necessity of providing equality of opportunity for women and girls and for demonstrating why these scholarships are so vitally important I wish you every success in your future careers my own life is to become a doctor [Music]