Aspiring female entrepreneurs
receive the help they need to launch their businesses
by Alice Thomas
Since CAI ’ s founding more
than 20 years ago , our work has been driven by the core belief in the transformational power of women and girls to address their families ’ and societies ’ biggest challenges , including poverty . In Tajikistan , CAI-Tajikistan ( CAIT ) is once again putting that belief into action by testing out a promising new program aimed at empowering women to play a role in alleviating their families ’ poverty and driving their country ’ s economic growth .
CAIT is based in the Gorno- Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast ( GBAO ), an extremely remote and impoverished region of the country . The
women of GBAO possess a wide array of traditional skills , including food preparation and production of personal and household items such as clothing , school uniforms , and blankets . What they lack , however , is the knowledge and tools to transform those skills into income — particularly with respect to accounting , sales , business management , and market demand . Furthermore , women lack information on how to access business financing , mentoring , and support , all of which are required to sustainably operate a micro-enterprise .
In 2019 , the U . S . Embassy in Tajikistan made funding available , on a competitive basis , to local nonprofit organizations like CAIT to devise innovative pilot projects to promote women ’ s economic empowerment and entrepreneurship . Given the need in GBAO , CAIT immediately seized on this funding opportunity and designed the ASPIRE Project : Providing Entrepreneurship Opportunities for Migration-Affected Women . The proposal was successful , and in late 2019 CAIT received a grant to launch the pilot project . CAI covered part of CAIT ’ s implementation costs .
The goal of ASPIRE is to empower women in GBAO with the skills and knowledge they need to act as drivers of their own livelihoods and economic security . Based on the lessons learned from the program , CAIT plans to improve and expand the program .
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