Benghazi - Libya has suffered from an economic crisis and civil war that broke out in the country in 2011. Even if the statistics regarding poverty in Libya don’t mention directly women and children, they have been deeply affected by poverty in the country. A group of female micro-entrepreneurs have been organizing themselves under the umbrella of the “Uniqueness Empowerment Organization” against poverty in the country.

“The organization was found in 2020”

Hind Albshari told us that the organization was founded in 2020 under the umbrella of the Libya Local Governance and Civil Society (LGCS) Program, locally known as “Taqarib”. In the beginning, the projects of the organization were carried out very slowly due to the Covid-19 pandemic but Hind Albshari told us they overcame the difficulties they faced with the reduction of lockdowns.

Space for women to take a breath

The organization worked on a project for women working from home during the lockdowns imposed in the country, “There are three focus points within the scope of the project program. One of them was a-week training course. We discussed how women could stand on their own legs during the pandemic and we decided to focus our projects on online platforms. Women took photos of handiworks and shared them on social media platforms. Even though this work was limited, it allowed women to take a breath.”

30 female entrepreneurs received a certificate

The organization began to work actively in 2021 and 30 female entrepreneurs received their certificates after attending the course held by the organization. “The number of women applied to attend our course was much more than we expected. But we had to choose some of them due to the pandemic 59 women attended the course as the first group and 30 of them received a certificate. The course for the second group will be held soon,” Hind Albshari reported.

The organization will support women to get a bank loan

Hind Albshari said that their organization has already prepared feasibility study reports of the projects submitted by women and they will choose the best five projects and five women entrepreneurs from each group. “These five women will receive a six-month training course at the Benghazi Business Center after completing the basic training course. We will support them to get a bank loan to start their own business. The project has been carried out not only for women working from home but also women from many different sectors such as former business owners, affected by the economic crisis, unemployed healthcare workers, teachers, who cannot find a job.”