{"id":37124,"date":"2025-08-19T10:26:53","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T06:56:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/?p=37124"},"modified":"2025-08-19T10:26:54","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T06:56:54","slug":"against-all-odds-the-afghan-women-becoming-entrepreneurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/against-all-odds-the-afghan-women-becoming-entrepreneurs\/","title":{"rendered":"Against all odds: The Afghan women becoming entrepreneurs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>By Hania Forotan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a house in a quiet residential district of Kabul, a 25-year-old woman named Nahid sits at her sewing machine making traditional Afghan clothes. On the other side of the city, Nargis, a few years younger at 22, is busy taking orders for handbags over the phone.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both young women grew up in a more hopeful time, when girls in Afghanistan could finish school and dream big, and both saw their ambitions of further education and professional careers crushed when the Taliban returned to power four years ago.<br><br> Since then, they have managed to forge a new path to self-reliance through sheer determination, harnessing the few resources still available to women to create their own businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although their businesses are still developing, they\u2019ve already created opportunities for other Afghan women to earn, providing inspiration and hope in a country where those two things are sorely lacking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the four years since they regained control of Afghanistan, the Taliban have effectively erased women from public life. They have prohibited girls from attending schools and universities, banned women from working in government offices and NGOs, and even forbidden them from entering gyms and public parks. Despite the drastic narrowing of women\u2019s life opportunities, a small number of them are harnessing technology to circumvent the enormous barriers to independence, mounting a resistance whose significance is hard to overstate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"790\" src=\"https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Bano-2-1024x790.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37125\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Bano-2-1024x790.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Bano-2-300x232.jpg 300w, https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Bano-2-768x593.jpg 768w, https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Bano-2-1536x1186.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Bano-2-2048x1581.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>crystal-covered handbag.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Four years ago, Nargis had just finished high school and was preparing for the university entrance exam to study psychology at Kabul University. <br><br>When the Taliban issued a decree barring women from attending universities, \u201cit felt like everything was over,\u201d she says. \u201cI just read books and scrolled Instagram, but I felt like my life had stopped.\u201d But as she scrolled, she saw women entrepreneurs from Iran and in a few cases Afghanistan marketing their wares, and it sparked an idea. \u201cI thought, if they can do it, why can\u2019t I?\u201d she recalls.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That question became the driving force behind her online business. For two years, she researched what product to sell, how to market it, and how to attract customers. In October 2023, she launched her venture making and selling crystal-covered handbags, starting with capital of around 25,000 Afghanis (360 dollars).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It wasn\u2019t easy. Sourcing raw materials from Kabul\u2019s Mandawi market \u2014 traditionally a male-dominated space \u2014 was just one major challenge. She also had to import some supplies from neighbouring countries. \u201cSome people would try to discourage me with condescending looks or comments like, \u2018This work is not for girls.\u2019 But I had made up my mind,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, Nargis has buyers not only in Afghanistan but also abroad, in Europe and the United States. \u201cCustomers from Germany and Canada message me to order different types of bags,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s an amazing feeling to be connected to the world from my home.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Her business is now a team of 30, mostly girls who were denied an education. Nilab, 17, earns an income making bags and says working with Nargis gives her hope. \u201cWhen I see her succeed despite all these problems, I tell myself, why not me?\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Taliban can\u2019t compete with our dreams<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nahid was in her third year of law and political science at Parwan University when the Taliban \u2018s restrictions ended her education, plunging her into a depression that lasted over a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI felt all doors had closed on me,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI cried for days, thinking my life was over. Then one day I asked myself, how long am I going to live like this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Inspired by the colourful and ornate traditional dresses worn by her mother, Nahid set up a business making and selling women\u2019s clothing for sale. She started in May 2024 and now works with four other women, stitching and embroidering clothes that blend traditional artistry with modern creativity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every day brings new challenges. Like Nargis, she has to go to the Mandawi market, where as a young woman she stands out, and has to contend with questions and disapproving looks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"674\" src=\"https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Bano-3-1024x674.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37126\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Bano-3-1024x674.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Bano-3-300x197.jpg 300w, https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Bano-3-768x505.jpg 768w, https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Bano-3-1536x1011.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/rukhshana.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/08\/Bano-3-2048x1348.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>One of the traditional clothes of Afghan women<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019ve fallen many times, but I kept going for the sake of my dreams. I didn\u2019t want to feel again that everything was lost,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two young women share the view that the attitude of Afghan society towards women entrepreneurs is one of the biggest barriers to success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSome people think women shouldn\u2019t work, especially in traditional markets,\u201d says Nahid. \u201cBut we\u2019re trying to change \u2014 or at least soften \u2014 that view.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 2024 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.undp.org\/afghanistan\/publications\/listening-women-entrepreneurs-afghanistan-their-struggle-and-resilience\">study by the UN Development Programme<\/a> found women entrepreneurs in Afghanistan were displaying remarkable resilience in the face of challenges including discrimination, lack of access to finance, and even being unable to travel to markets without a male chaperone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both Nargis and Nahid are ambitious for their businesses and have international goals that they say social media can help them achieve. Nargis describes Instagram as \u201cmy window to the world\u201d allowing her to connect with global customers, while Nahid says that \u201ca smartphone and the internet are stronger than any barrier the Taliban can put in a woman\u2019s way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nahid\u2019s goal is not just to earn money, but to introduce Afghan designs to the world, and she already has customers in Australia and Europe.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Taliban can\u2019t block our minds or our ability to dream,\u201d she says with a smile. \u201cI had a smartphone, and that was enough to start.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When the Taliban issued a decree barring women from attending universities, \u201cit felt like everything was over,\u201d she says. \u201cI just read books and scrolled Instagram, but I felt like my life had stopped.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":37127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[966,9581,902],"tags":[11447,11448],"class_list":["post-37124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-en","category-our-work-en","category-reports-en","tag-entrepreneurs","tag-traditional-afghan-clothes"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - 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