Yemeni Coastal Women Advance along Road to Entrepreneurship

“Ever since the first training, I have been dreaming to learn and grow more,” said Ms. Ahdab Mahmoud Morshid, one of more than 400 coastal women microentrepreneurs who participated in seashell and accessories-making and other women-focused artisan entrepreneurial training under the USAID Economic Recovery and Livelihoods Program (USAID/ERLP). “I learned how to negotiate, market, design a unique brand identity, and manage my business finances.”

Entrepreneurship is essential to women in coastal Yemen who face significant social and practical obstacles. Gender disparities in the workforce are evident across the country. Low literacy rates, inadequate training opportunities, and tribal and patriarchal customs marginalize women and severely restrict their ability to find sustainable employment and earn a good income. USAID/ERLP engages with fishermen’s wives, unemployed young coastal women, widows, female-headed households, internally displaced persons, and victims of gender-based violence.

The USAID program works with local women and organizations to find creative business opportunities that fit within cultural mores, take advantage of local resources, and can lead to significant sustainable growth opportunities. To date, its training has helped project beneficiaries expand their businesses, increase their ability to access new markets, open new shops, buy more sophisticated equipment to produce new types of products in larger quantities, and hire workers to fill newly created jobs. Increased income helped them adapt to adverse changes and shocks arising from the ongoing conflict and political and economic stresses.

Emboldened by her new knowledge, Ms. Ahdab Mahmoud Morshid began selling home-handcrafted jewelry and accessory designs at bazaars where she was exposed to and shared experiences with other women entrepreneurs. As her confidence grew she said she took a “huge step” and opened her own shop, Um Al Banoun. As local sales increased, she contacted relatives and reached a customer base for some of her select products in Britain and Egypt. After participating in an USAID/ERLP training-of-trainers (TOT) course, she also provides training to other entrepreneurial newcomers.

“The TOT program helped me become a better trainer,” said Ms. Morshid. “Before I took the course, I was training others blindly. I didn’t know the fundamentals of designing training materials and activities, or the best tools and techniques. So far, I have conducted 30 training sessions for almost 300 women from different age groups. It was not easy at first to stand in front of eager young girls full of excitement and hungry to learn. The TOT training gave me confidence.”

A virtual business woman juggernaut, Ms. Morshid provides training mostly on a voluntary basis knowing they help grow her business. At the same time, she understands the importance of her serving as a role model in her community, helping others to overcome the challenges faced by women to become independent and successful.

“The women I train face hurdles, but with every new course I conduct I feel a slight shift and improvement in the perception of women’s roles,” she said. I tell every woman who dreams of starting her own business to start today—don’t let anyone stop you, look at your goal, and don’t look back.”

Her words clearly resonate. Just ask Ms. Ebtisam Aqrabi, 40, one of her trainees and head of the local Woman and Child Association. “Mrs. Ahdab Morshid trained us on how to design and make jewelry and accessories,” she said. “With great patience she taught all the basics and principles, sharing all her experience and expertise. She works on her designs with passion and love and she was very invested in us and treated us kindly. I consider her my idol and role model in success and perseverance.”