Fatema Akbari ( fa, فاطمه اکبری; born 1974) is an Afghan entrepreneur and women's advocate who is the founder of the Gulistan Sadaqat Company and

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

the Women Affairs Council. In 2011, she received the 10,000 Women Entrepreneurial Achievement Award.

Career

Fatema Akbari was driven into carpentry by necessity as a means of supporting her children following the death of her husband in 1999, originally working on building sites in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, where her family fled when the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...

took control of Afghanistan. In 2003, she returned to the homeland and started furniture manufacturing business by establishing Gulistan Sadaqat Company in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

with a carpentry school. She attempted to provide a workforce base as a means of earning to wives of men killed or disabled during the conflict in Afghanistan. In 2009, she enrolled in the Goldman Sachs-sponsored 10,000 Women program at the

American University of Afghanistan The American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) ( fa, ; ps, ) is an Afghan private university located in the Darulaman section of Kabul. Most students of AUAF currently live abroad and there are plans to create a new AUAF campus in Qatar in the ...

, a program aimed at training women from developing countries in business and management. In expanding her operations and women's literacy classes, Akbari has been able to work in

-controlled areas through negotiations with local leaders and has commented ''"It would be good for the Taliban to be involved in the country, to see that there’s nothing wrong with women leaving the house."'' In 2004, Fatema Akbari founded Afghanistan

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

the Women Affairs Council to train women in handicrafts in addition to educating both sexes about human rights. Between the NGO and her own business, it was estimated that as of 2011 she had trained 5,610 people across Afghanistan.

10,000 Women Entrepreneurial Achievement Award

On 12 April 2011, Akbari was honored with the 10,000 Women Entrepreneurial Achievement Award at the

Global Leadership Awards The Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards honor international women leaders in the fields of human rights, economic empowerment, or political reform. The event takes place annually in early spring at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing A ...

. In presenting,

Vital Voices Vital Voices Global Partnership is an American international, 501(c)(3), non-profit, non-governmental organization that works with women leaders in the areas of economic empowerment, women's political participation, and human rights. The organiz ...

commended her

''"for her work to empower other Afghan women — through the training and employment provided by her carpentry business, and through the literacy and skills training provided by her non-governmental organization (NGO) to women in Taliban-controlled areas."''

Further work

During 30–31 March 2011, Akbari was a panel member at a 2-day conference in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

convened by former United States President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

and Afghan President

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repub ...

entitled ''Building Afghanistan’s Future: Promoting Women’s Freedom and Advancing Their Economic Opportunity''.

References

External links

Fatema Akbari @ Vital VoicesFatema Akbari @ 10,000 Women
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akbari, Fatima Afghan women in business Afghan businesspeople Hazara businesspeople Afghan activists Afghan women activists Living people American University of Afghanistan Afghan women company founders 1974 births People from Daykundi Province 21st-century businesspeople 21st-century businesswomen

Career

10,000 Women Entrepreneurial Achievement Award

Further work

See also

References

External links