Female entrepreneurs fight crisis by reviving heritage
Female entrepreneurs from Iraq, Palestine and Egypt show that hardship does not always impede creativity, particularly when you build on your country's artistic heritage.
Decades of war in Iraq, an economic crisis in Egypt, the dire economic and political situation in Palestine: Such conditions are not always conducive to entrepreneurship. Yet three remarkable women from those countries have made use of their country's heritage and handicrafts to set up businesses with limited funds.
Noor Hashim, 30, is from Baghdad. She started her business in 2016 with a Facebook page, which she used to market her handmade products: leather bags, necklaces, scarfs and souvenirs, with designs inspired by Mesopotamian art. A year later, she opened a shop for her brand Hili, which means love in Arabic. She wanted to underline the strength of love as opposed to the hate and destruction of wars that have plagued her country.
“I used to design and make every piece by myself, and then I decided to train some Iraqi women to do them," Hashim told Al-Monitor. "Some of them learned the job quickly and I employed them.”
Iraq's economic and political conditions do not enable Iraqis to spend a lot of money on clothes or accessories, but Hashim is taking small steps toward exporting her products to the Gulf, to wealthier countries like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
