Starting a business is never easy. Even less when you’re a woman and you live in a conservative and unstable country like Iraq. To help women entrepreneurs start their business, the Raa’idat incubation program supports them. Zahraa Al-Nasrawi has benefited from this program and shares her experience with us, alongside Alexandra Duchêne, cooperation attache at the French Embassy in Iraq.
Iraq has experienced decades of conflict and dictatorship under Saddam Hussein. Twenty years ago, its fall gave a glimpse of more freedom for the population, and women hoped that they would gain rights. But two decades later, society remains very patriarchal and conservative.
Women represent just over 10 % of working-age population, less than one million nationwide. Some, who have decided to set up their own business, have been able to benefit from the support of the Raa’idat incubation program – pioneers, in Arabic – with the support of the French Embassy in Baghdad.
Zahraa Al-Nasrawi is one of these entrepreneurs. In Karbala, a region still disputed, she created her own company, Chocopedia. It makes, it is said, some of the best chocolates in the country. But selling these treats was not easy. Without any academic training in the kitchen, she made herself alone and, above all, had to convince her husband and his family to accompany her in this undertaking.
The new generation of rodeo
In the United States, the image of the cowboy remains that of a white man with a beige hat and cowboy boots. However, thehe world of rodeo is also the heritage of African Americans. According to historians, they represented about a quarter of the number of these mounted cowherds after the Civil War. Today, their descendants have every intention of recalling this forgotten history. Dafrican american teenage girls like Morissa, Ryan or Reagan train with passion to make a name for themselves in the world of rodeo.
Read alsoIn the United States, black cowboys are reclaiming their history
Source: France 24
