Rural Women for the Well-Being of their family and Community – Khanifa’s Story

„I always had ambitions to be developed and achieve success to further help my community. At the beginning I was afraid I wouldn’t achieve my goals, so it was always difficult for me to make decisions. However my husband and family supported me and everything changed for the better. Now, I have my business and actively take care about the well-being of my family and community. In addition, try to get involved in various activities.

In June 2019 I joined the new initiative of UN Women and Taso Foundation and became a community worker of two villages in Marneuli. Also, under the same project I participated in a grant competition and opened a bakery with other women from my community. We bake Azerbaijani “lavash” and sell it among the residents of Khuldara and nearby villages.

Managing the business was not very difficult for us as we were experienced in this field and were well aware of the possible risks. Also, we were able to employ two local women. I believe a woman should be independent and have her own source of income. An active, development-oriented woman builds the strength of family and community.

In the future, my partners and I want to develop and cooperate with various restaurants and stores in Marneuli. With the expansion of the business, we are still going to employ 2-3 local women".

The project “Women’s Economic Empowerment project through Social Mobilization and Capacity Building” is part of the UN Women’s regional project “Women’s Economic Empowerment in the South Caucasus”, supported by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC). The project “Women’s Economic Empowerment project through Social Mobilization and Capacity Building” is implemented by Kakheti Regional Development Foundation (KRDF), Taso Foundation (TF), and CARE Caucasus (CARE).