French-funded project aims to support 800 women entrepreneurs across Iraq

ERBIL — A €10 million project to support women entrepreneurs in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region was launched Thursday at Erbil Citadel, funded by the French Development Agency and implemented by its subsidiary Expertise France.

The Iraqi Women Economic Empowerment project aims to help nearly 800 women start or expand businesses through grants, zero-interest loans and training. Support will be delivered through selected Iraqi and Kurdish civil society organizations with experience assisting women-led businesses.

“The participation of women in the business world in Iraq is particularly low, and often limited to working alongside their spouse or family members,” IWEE said in a statement. “They face major challenges to establish their own businesses, including limited access to financing and cultural barriers, on top of generally lower levels of education. It is estimated that women own only 5% of very small businesses and none of the medium-sized enterprises.”

Saz Anwar from the IWEE team told 964media the project will provide both financial and technical support. “The idea is whoever has an idea to make it a business, we can support financially and technically. Whoever wants to develop her project, to make it successful, we are here to give that support.”

She said local NGOs will handle selection, prioritizing vulnerable women. “If they find a woman who has a big family and needs to create a business, yes, she has priority. Widowed women, yes. Single mothers, yes. And the young generation who have the energy to establish their own business, just to support the family.”

The project also aims to reach rural areas. “There are so many women in rural areas. They cannot get the right support they need, so we decided to take that support to those areas,” Anwar said.

Eligible support includes training in soft skills, management, accounting and vocational skills, as well as access to public and private finance adapted to participants’ capacities. The project also seeks to strengthen existing female-led enterprises to improve their sustainability and growth.

French Consul Yann Braem told 964media the project reflects France’s longstanding ties with the Kurdistan Region. He referenced a 1967 letter from Gen. Mustafa Barzani to Charles de Gaulle, presented last week by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot during his visit to Erbil.

Braem also recalled French support following the 1991 Kurdish uprising, including the advocacy of Danielle Mitterrand — whom Kurds call “the mother of the Kurds” — in convincing President François Mitterrand to back the no-fly zone.

“This is typically the kind of project that will help the Kurdistan Region economy because women represent 50% of the population,” Braem said. “If we support the economic activities of women, we do support the economic activity of the entire region.”

He said the initiative is part of France’s feminist diplomacy. “Feminist diplomacy is about providing practical tools so that women are able to have the means to sustain themselves and survive, and also the means to grow and make their businesses grow.”

Sirwan Mohammed, deputy minister at the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Planning, said women’s workforce participation in the region stands at 16 percent, with plans to raise it to 30 percent.

“This project and projects similar to this, implemented by our partners, international organizations, play a visible role,” he said.

The French Development Agency is France’s primary agency for development and international solidarity. Expertise France is the country’s public agency for international technical cooperation and the second largest in Europe.