Project News

Business Incubation Project (BIP) conducted "Basics of Business (BoB)" training for female Afghan refugees from 17th to 19th, 23th to 25th of November and 30th of November to 2nd of December, in which a total of 56 female Afghan refugees participated selected by UNHCR. This training was organized based on collaboration between JICA Tajikistan Office and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Tajikistan. UNHCR announced this BoB to the refugees and selected participants)

Responding to the needs of Afghan people, the training was conducted in Dari, one of official languages of Afghanistan. The Dari and the Tajik are in same language family, thus both are communicable. The textbook was also translated into Dari. Participants' backgrounds were varied; some have been living in Tajikistan for more than ten years, whereas some have just left Afghanistan after Taliban regained power last year. All participants from different ethnic groups (Pashtun, Hazara and Tajik) proactively participated in the training, with each one having passion to start up a business in Tajikistan.

After the completion of the training, each participant submitted a preliminary business plan. All of the 25 business plans approved by the Appraisal Committee turned out to be sewing businesses; thus 25 sewing machines were procured by BIP and UNHCR. On 20th December, a handover ceremony was conducted at the State Institution "Business Incubator".

Afghan women traditionally have a high skill of sewing, which has been passing from generation to generation. There are quite a few Afghan refugees who wish to utilize their skill even in Tajikistan, but not many had a sewing machine. Even if they have one, it usually is so obsolete that they cannot work with it efficiently. BIP provided to the participants both new electric sewing machines and business training, expecting that these female Afghan refugees could generate enough income to support themselves and their families to have a stable and better life in Tajikistan. This collaboration allowed refugee women to receive business training to facilitate their economic integration through self-employment and to contribute to the local economy.

Basic of Business Training

Handing-over ceremony