Program Assistant

About Afghanistan Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AWCCI):

A group of businesswomen realized lack of a platform to specifically serve businesswomen’s needs in the country and the need to do policy advocacy so they collaborated and established Leading Entrepreneurs for Afghanistan’s Development (LEAD). LEAD was established in 2013 and officially launched on January 22, 2014.

LEAD changed to Afghanistan’s Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industries on March 12th, 2017 through the approval of the High Economic Council of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan presided by H.E. the President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani.

Vision: An Afghanistan in which Afghan women and female entrepreneurs have national and international recognition for their contribution in the sustainable economic development of Afghanistan and unimpeded access to economic opportunity and prosperity.

Mission: AWCCI works to meaningfully represent, advance, and secure Afghan women’s economic interests, nationally and internationally.

Goal: To create a viable business/work environment in the privates sector of Afghanistan for women to participate and contribute the economic development of Afghanistan.

AWCCI conducted its activities towards achieving its goal and fulfilling its mission under two main titles:

-      Unifying Our Voice – activities under this title meant to work with women business owners, increase their awareness and enhance their participation towards the common goal of reflecting concerns and interests of women business owners in the policy making.

-      Let’s Collaborate for a Better Result – activities under this title were conducted with partners within and outside Afghanistan to enhance opportunities for women business owners.

The programmatic areas of the AWCCI are as follows:

·        Research (academic and policy related): The objective is to provide data that can be used practically in developing Afghan Government and donor organization polices related to women’s involvement in the Afghan economy

·        Sales support: The objective is to make a tangible impact on women-owned businesses by increasing sales of products, through local and international exhibitions, differentiating Afghan women-made products in international markets, and the promotion of women-made products through the AWCCI’s communications channels

·        Investment support: Mitigate risks and open up opportunities for female investors in the Afghan economy by providing market insights, improving access to finance, and facilitating access to infrastructure

·        Advocacy and raising awareness: The objective is to ensure that the contributions of businesswomen in the Afghan economy are recognized and promoted, and the perspectives of Afghan businesswomen are considered in both Afghan Government and international donor policies and programs

·        Capacity building for both existing and aspired entrepreneurs: The objective is to provide training to Afghan businesswomen and entrepreneurs to increase their knowledge in various subjects related to business. AWCCI has and would like to maintain a A-Z guide for both expansions and start-up in both national languages Dari and Pashto.

AWCCI is launching Women Business Resource Center with the financial and technical support of Center for International Enterprises (CIPE). The center will be led by Women Business Resource Director who will work under the direct supervision of AWCCI’s President and Vice-President.