Women entrepreneurs from Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Sudan and Gaza took center stage at the closing ceremony of the 2024 World Entrepreneurial Investment Forum (WEIF), which has been held in Bahrain’s capital Manama since Tuesday.
During a panel discussion onwomen, peace and security” in an exclusive interview afterwards. united nations news Reporting from the forum venue, businesswomen shared inspiring stories about how their projects inspired them to help others and the need for more funding.
Gaza conflict hampers women-led projects
Tahani Abu Dhaka, a Palestinian businessman from Gaza, has been in the enclave for about seven months since the latest conflict began. She left three weeks ago and was about to return, but the intersection was closed, giving her an unexpected opportunity to participate in WEIF.
Abu Dhaka said she wanted to create jobs for women, such as in garment and biscuit factories, so that women could remain in Gaza, as many Gazans will be working outside the Strip. “She was the first Palestinian woman to work in Gaza to create opportunities.”
But her efforts toward women’s empowerment are facing challenges. Recurrent conflicts in the Gaza Strip since 2007 have hampered progress on her project.
For example, she says: “I founded the Damour Foundation to focus on environmental initiatives such as solar-powered water harvesting and sewage treatment systems. Established “Gaza Life for the People”. They were ultimately successful, only to see the project scrapped before it was completed. ”
After the outbreak of the current conflict, everything changed.
“Suddenly I found myself evacuated in an area near the sea. I could have rented a small house, but the women and children were forced to evacuate and were living on the streets in the rain. I had to do something to help them. We had nothing, no banks, no money.”
Abu Dhaka said he recently completed a project but ended up with more than $2.5 million in debt. Still, he said, “He forgot about all the problems he was going through… He started thinking about the women who were out in the rain with their children.” [without shelter]So I started collecting money from friends and relatives to build a camp. ”
Unfortunately, there were no tents because international organizations were not ready, she continued. “So, for this emergency work, I started buying wood, gathered relatives and volunteers, and started building tents day and night.”
“My Jewish friends raised $5,000 to help me get out of Gaza, and I allocated that money to build tents for the people,” she explains. united nations news.
“Sudanese lives and dreams matter”
Alaa Hamad, a Sudanese mother of three daughters, is the CEO and founder of Solar Food, a clean technology startup and pioneer in Sudan’s dry goods industry.
“Solar Food uses a solar drying process to produce a range of organic dehydrated foods packaged in eco-friendly packaging, catering to both retail and wholesale markets.”
Hamat’s factory was destroyed during the Sudanese conflict. “Our company used to export products to seven countries including the UK, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Qatar. My business was located at a factory site in Sudan,” she explains.
She went on to say: “My ultimate vision was to have a positive impact on people’s lives. This can be achieved by supporting smallholder farmers. I also wanted to introduce the concept of sun drying and how it can be beneficial to people. I’m trying to spread the word.”
Since war broke out a little more than a year ago, Hamato says he has lost everything.
“Sudanese lives matter. Sudanese dreams matter. We have faced terrible things. Sudanese have lost everything. Their factories have been destroyed. We have lost valuables. We’ve lost people. Women are being raped, too.
“Everyone says what is happening in Sudan is a civil war, but that is not true. It is a war over resources. [become] ethnic [conflict]”
When the conflict broke out, Hamat initially fled to Egypt, but later decided to return to Sudan.
“I decided to go back again to set up a drying factory, but it is really difficult to operate again in Sudan,” she says, citing inflation, lack of equipment, communication barriers, frequent power outages, bombings and drones, etc. He cited issues such as security threats. .
Despite all this, she said: We know there is no one to save us, but it is up to us to rise again. ”
Empowering mothers in Afghanistan
Malalai Helmandi, chief operating officer of Afghanistan’s solar energy production organization Helmandi Solar, and her husband Hamid Helmand are implementing projects to empower women in the Asian country.
Over the past two-and-a-half years, the company has set up greenhouses for women affected by conflict and crisis, she explained, adding that 47 years of war in Afghanistan has weakened the role of mothers as the breadwinners of the household. added.
“[A mother] Spend most of your time on the most important period of your child’s development.And in cultures where family ties are very strong, like Afghanistan, those families [are more stable] There, mothers are empowered, knowledgeable, and given the opportunity to participate in decision-making through something that brings in their own income, or at least… has the potential to generate income. ”
After spending three days at WEIF, Helmand said he returned home believing: “I think that with our efforts, our ideology, our ideas, we can bring back responsibility and work to women, because 80 percent of women are unemployed.” It’s because of what’s happening locally. ”
“Not even the Iraq war could stop me.”
In 2018, as the Iraqi government was battling the extremist group ISIS, Basima Abdulrahman, founder and CEO of KESK, a company seeking green tech energy solutions through technology, He was undeterred by the situation.
“I decided to build a sustainable business because I love sustainability. [but] I didn’t know that it would become a climate change business,” Abdurrahman said. united nations news.
Furthermore, she added: “We were not afraid of continuing conflict because climate change is as big a threat as ISIS and we need action to counter it.” [both] We decided that it’s never too early, but it might be too late, since we have to fight together rather than in a specific order. ”
Ms. Abdulrahman believes that for Iraq, the transition to renewable energy is not just a strategic plan or a luxury, but a necessity. The country has a 50 percent electricity shortage, which is currently being filled by polluting generators, but the shortage isn’t actually going away. Above all, it’s expensive.
She urges women entrepreneurs in conflict zones and peaceful but patriarchal regions to “start and grow big businesses. No matter the challenges you face, always You can strengthen your business and move forward with resilience.”
We heard from entrepreneurs
As WEIF2024 came to a close here in Manama, Dr. Hashim Hussein, Director of UNIDO’s Technology and Investment Promotion Office in Bahrain, who moderated the forum, said, “We are proud to ensure that entrepreneurs have a voice.” ” he said. ”
“We have seen that entrepreneurs within the United Nations system have had the opportunity to speak out. And, young people, we are now listening to their voices. was just a listener.”
“I think the greatest achievement of WEIF 2024 is to engage the international community in recognizing and understanding the issues and challenges of women in conflict and how they can be supported,” he continued. Ta.
He said united nations news One corner of the forum believed that such support should be channeled through economic development to ensure that their families and, of course, the communities and countries in which they live are provided for. I think this will be our big accomplishment this year. Year of the World Intervention Investment Forum 2024. ”
