November 21, 2021
News
Kefaya Elias is a 28-year-old mother of three who lives in the Bashiqa District of Ninewa Governorate, Iraq. She graduated from college, but was unable to find a job after graduation. Together with her family, Kefaya was forced to flee the Ninewa Plains after the ISIS attacks and travel to Duhok Governorate. Without any job or money to rent a home, they remained in refugee camp.
From an internally displaced person in her own country to a returnee in her hometown
When Kefaya finally returned to Bashiqa, she had to start from scratch after the war, as the houses, shops and farms had all been destroyed in the conflict. Upon her arrival, she was assisted by organizations that supported the people returning to the area after the war.
After returning, women in Iraq were expected to do the same amount of work as their male counterparts. Displacement meant that women were no longer confined to certain types of jobs, they were allowed to work in all industries. Still, the economic situation has worsened, and it became increasingly difficult to maintain a family and raise children.
When Kefaya began looking for a job, she could not find one. Then she learned that a local nonprofit would be providing job training for recent graduates. Without hesitating, she applied and was accepted.
The course was focused on digital marketing, which was an innovative idea and new approach to marketing in the region. “This is something we were aware of on social media, but we didn’t know how to create content or promote our products using certain tools, methods and programmes on the phone,” Kefaya said.
Supporting young graduates
Thanks to the training, local graduates were able to improve their abilities and competencies. Caritas Czech Republic in Iraq placed the trainees in small shops and businesses to encourage them to put what they had learned during their training into practice.
“I would like to thank all the people involved in this project, for helping us get started. I want to extend my thanks and gratitude to Caritas Czech Republic,” Kefaya said.
“This is an invitation to all the women and mothers who cannot have a full-time job or they cannot leave their kids, to establish their business from home and promote it on social media. In this way, they can even support their partners in meeting the families’ and children’s needs,” Kefaya added.
The trainings for young graduates are part of a project carried out by UNDP in partnership with Caritas Czech Republic in Iraq and Smithson Institute with funding from the Government of Japan, provided through Japan Supplementary Project (JSB2019).
