Wahida is 40 years old and lives in Kabul where she has been running a restaurant for 8 years now. Her restaurant sells traditional Afghan food, but above all it is run by women and hosts women.
Her business is going well, her earnings have increased over time, so much so that her employees went from two to 12. The daily challenges, however, are not few: the price of raw materials is high, the economic situation of the country is very difficult, taxes are high. For female entrepreneurs there is also a further obstacle: Taliban restrictions.
Recent regulations require Wahida to serve only female customers, while, for all related activities, she needs the constant accompaniment of a mahram. This is the biggest obstacle for her, since she is divorced and raises her daughters alone.
Working as women under the Taliban government is very difficult. There's a new restriction on women every day and I'm constantly worried about what will happen next: what else will they ban? The next ban could affect restaurants run by women. They could ban women from doing business altogether.
Wahida also suffers the consequences of bans that do not affect her directly. Most of her customers, in fact, were students from nearby schools. Losing these customers was a major blow to her revenue.
Despite the difficulties and constant fears, Wahida moved forward, with the aim of demonstrating that women can own a restaurant and can offer excellent service. The results she achieved are extraordinary.
She managed to participate in all the exhibitions that have been held so far, where she created many good relationships to promote her restaurant, as well as selling the food directly on site, with a decent profit.
Not only has Wahida kept her business open, she has managed to expand it. And what makes her most proud is that her new employees are women from disadvantaged backgrounds. By giving them work, she can provide a source of income for entire families facing economic hardship.
NOVE supports women's entrepreneurial activities in Afghanistan. With the project “Vocational Training, soft skills development and business marketing course”, financed by World Food Program and concluded in 2022, NOVE offered specialization courses in female professions that are still permitted, combined with courses for the development of transversal skills and entrepreneurship. 53% of women graduates have found a job or opened a small self-employed business.