I was 21 years old when a mountain biking accident left me without the use of my legs. Biking had been my passion since I was 13 years old, and I used to take part in competitions. I broke three vertebrae in my spine, and it left me paraplegic. My sister had died a month earlier from a brain aneurysm. It was a bitter time, both for me and my family.

I am the son of a farmer and had been studying agricultural technology at the time of the accident. I grew up watching my father produce vegetables and fruits, and from the age of 15 I knew that I wanted to follow in his footsteps. Before the accident I had begun experimenting with growing onions, watermelons, and other melons.

But after the accident, I went from being an active young person who worked at the farm and did sports, to being stuck in bed and depending on others. It was a radical change. I spent weeks crying, in angst, wanting to die.

A snapshot of me flying through the air on my bike at a mountain biking competition when I was a teenager. 

After a while, I finally understood that life goes on, that the days go by, and that if you choose to stay in that state of angst and negativity, the days will still go by, and you end up staying in that same place. 

That's what led me to flip the switch, change my mindset, and start to work on my rehabilitation. I understood the first thing I needed to do was to learn to use a wheelchair and regain my independence. 

That began a chain reaction. Working on my rehabilitation allowed me to finish school. Finishing school led me to a point in my life where I could say, "Hey, how can I re-insert myself into the place I like, which is the farm?".

In the hospital during that first stage, I remember thinking about building a greenhouse to produce seedlings. That reassured me, and I thought, "Okay, I will focus on that. I'll produce seedlings. That is a job I'll be able to do. I will do that." That idea remained on standby until 2019, when a man who used to work with my father – Oscar Mejías de Avanza Consultores – approached me, wanting to help. That’s when we started to develop FarmHability.

After the accident, I held on to this idea that I could still eventually produce seedlings at my family’s farm. That’s what helped motivate me with my recovery.

Initially, FarmHability was mainly a solution to make my life easier and allow me to return to the work environment after two years of rehabilitation. 

We applied to the Chilean Agricultural Innovation Foundation (FIA), with a proposal to develop a greenhouse that would meet accessibility standards, so that I could work and be productive once again. That's how the FarmHability project started, full of motivation, with lots of expectations.

The greenhouse has been designed so that I can move around easily with my wheelchair. All the plants are at a level that is adapted to my height when seated.

To be honest, it was a complex undertaking. The possible outcome of all this seemed very uncertain. We had to do market research for the first stage of the FIA project. I personally interviewed over 400 people with disabilities from my region. Around that time, I remember finishing an interview and saying to Oscar, "Hey, what are we getting into here?”

Once we had collected all the research findings, we realized that people with disabilities face huge issues in finding employment in rural areas. We saw that we needed to open this space to the public to show them what we were developing at FarmHability. 

We realized that people with disabilities face huge issues in finding employment in rural areas. 

That's when we decided, "Hey, we need to work on this. We need to make sure this doesn't just stay here. We need to open it to the public, show it to others, and invite people to participate in training workshops."

We wanted to let people know that anyone with any disability can be independent; that's number one. Number two, that a person with a disability can be productive on a farm. They can produce food, even while having a disability. I think those are the main myths and barriers that are being torn down.

The workshops at the farm have been really popular. The COVID pandemic slowed things down for a while, but so far 600 people have visited the farm to learn about FarmHability.

We were also in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, which made everything a bit harder. We wanted to start with groups of 15 people, hopefully with associations, but initially we were forced to bring smaller groups of two or three people. That moment was quite satisfying, especially being able to work with senior citizens who had been restricted to their homes to stay safe.  

Honestly, it was beautiful and exciting to see how happy people were about sharing and interacting with nature.

The restrictions have lifted now, and we can do workshops, especially in the open air. So far, over 600 people have gone through FarmHability, whether it's for agrotourism, which we also offer, or for training workshops on urban crops and hydroponic systems. These are the two branches of agriculture we are currently working on.

I use an adapted quad bike to move around the farm and turn on the irrigation system using a hand-held tool. 

It’s a year and a half since we started delivering our products to supermarkets. That was an important milestone, giving us more credibility.

It allowed us to start planting crops in the open field, in a place that is normally completely inaccessible for a wheelchair. We currently have two and a half hectares of open-air crops. 

We had been talking about how having an adapted space like the greenhouse was not enough on its own. So, we developed another project, with FIA's support, which was the development of an all-terrain vehicle, a prototype based on a quad bike, that allows a person with a disability or senior citizen to participate in some of the agricultural tasks we do in the open field.  This is another important advancement in the sector.

Now, for this 2023 season, we're going to increase our production. Fortunately, we will be able to build another 500m2 greenhouse plus a processing room, which will allow us to employ one or two full-time workers with disabilities, which is important to us.

In March, we will start developing the FarmHability Foundation, to strengthen our work on the inclusion of people with disabilities in the rural and agricultural sectors. Through this foundation, we want to become a bridge between people with disabilities and companies that wish to hire them.

We have identified certain issues affecting people with disabilities that need to be addressed. It would mean involving occupational therapists, kinesiologists, psychologists, and a wide range of professionals, which is something you can't do as a company. That’s why we want to start the foundation alongside the company.

We need employers to become educated about people with disabilities. Secondly, we need visibility for the person with a disability in a way that is more positive and optimistic.

FarmHability is contributing to society in two key areas: education and visibility. Firstly, we need employers and the general public to become educated about people with disabilities. Secondly, we also need visibility for people with disabilities, and not in a way that is pitying, negative, or sad, but in a way that is more positive and optimistic.

Here in Chile, some doctors in the medical profession can be so negative. They would see me and say, "No, you're going to stay in the wheelchair; you'll never be able to do anything again. Forget about it." They completely wreck you. I think it's important to spark change there. In addition, we need to continue working with education systems, involving people with disabilities in education, including higher education.

This also involves other issues that need to be addressed, such as transportation. I think that's also part of our responsibility, as people with disabilities. We need to go out there and find the opportunities, to show ourselves to the world, and, no doubt about it, contribute to the world as well.

FarmHability is precisely that. Fortunately, we have also received support from institutions, and private individuals who believe in the initiative, and the project is getting bigger. 

These lettuces will be sold in supermarkets in Chile. 

I can honestly say I feel happy and grateful for everything that life has given me, despite having gone through such a turbulent time when I felt like all my plans and my future had been destroyed.

We are developing something that is not only economically sustainable, but will also have an unprecedented impact on society. We are the pioneers of work for people with disabilities in Chile’s agricultural sector.  That's something very moving and fulfilling. It honestly feels great.

It's amazing to look back and see where I was, and then look at what we're doing now and everything that's left to be done, because this project is just getting started; it's a limitless idea.

According to the Second National Disability Study, conducted in 2015, there are almost 3 million people with disabilities in Chile. More than 2 million 600 thousand people with disabilities are adults, that is, 20% of the national adult population.

Of these, only 42.8% participate in the labour market, and are either looking for a job or working.

The More Inclusion Project is a joint initiative of the National Disability Service of Chile (SENADIS) and the International Labour Organization. Its objective is to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in the world of work.

As part of the project, Dialogue Tables were set up with people and institutions that work on disability inclusion, in twelve regions across Chile. 

They developed strategies to promote an inclusive economic reactivation after the crisis caused by COVID-19 in the world of work. E-learning systems, guides, conferences with experts, exchanges of best practices and the platform #ASOCIÁTE were developed.

ILO Office for Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay (in Spanish) 

Red de Empresas Inclusivas de Chile (Inclusive Business Network of Chile)

Global call to action for a human-centred recovery 

Alfredo Carrasco lost the use of his legs after a biking accident.  Determined to return to his love of farming, he found ways to make his family’s farm in Chile more accessible, while also helping other farmers working with a disability.

I'm ripping up the myths about disability

Every opportunity I get, I speak on behalf of women in the Maasai community. We want women not to sleep but to wake up. Even those with pierced ears like me, our minds haven’t been pierced, we have the brains to advance forward!

My name is Mary Nkisonkoi. I am a facilitator and come from the Maasai village of Oloshaiki in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya. 

I was lucky enough to have been chosen as a facilitator for a community project in my area.  

Before this project started, women in our region didn’t get together and talk candidly about their problems and challenges. We weren’t allowed to unless our husbands knew what had been said.

We just used to stay in the village and meet in church. After the service everyone would go their way and continue with their family responsibilities. We didn’t know that as mothers we could do something that could help us as a community or as women.

Then this project came and started teaching us about gender, about women’s rights, the difference between a wife and a husband. This encouraged us and gave us the motivation to speak to our men. 

I was trained as a facilitator to bring men and women into the public forums. I call the village elder, women, leaders of community groups to discuss what is needed to improve our region.

Education empowered me to fight for women’s rights in Kenya

The first change to happen, which we are proud of, is that women were able to get adult education. We were taught by a teacher from the project. We were also taught how to run a business. 

Many women joined the classes since we did not have other livelihoods. Traditionally, women cannot sell cows or maize because the farm belongs to the husband.

At first it was a challenge, but we learned to plan ahead and make sure our household chores and herding the goats and cows were done in the morning. At 2pm, once the children were back home from school, we would rush quickly to class. 

Women learned the alphabet and numbers and as a result could use mobile phones.

Market day in a Maasai village. With our women’s group we helped women grow their businesses, including cultivating and selling vegetables at local markets. 

The adult education classes got us thinking about what else we could do. How were we going to maximise this opportunity we had to leave our homes? What other changes could we make?  

We formed a women’s group, or Chama, and came up with what we called a “merry go round”, pooling our money to help each other.

Our market day here is on Wednesdays, where some women sell beans, potatoes or other vegetables. We decided to meet every Thursday after market day. Each woman would bring Ksh 50 (40 US cents) or Ksh 100 (81 US cents). Then if a woman needed to borrow some money to grow her business, we would lend her the money, and she would repay it plus interest.  Then we would give it to the next woman to grow her business.

The other change in our lives as women is that our husbands learned to give us room and space. When I sat with them as a facilitator, I informed them that mothers can also bring an income to the family and pay for education or buy food. 

Now we are free as women to run our own businesses. Each woman can bring in something into their homes and put it on the table, however little. Even Ksh 500 (USD 4.10). We tell our husbands, “This is how much I was able to get.” So, this is a big change. We are not living the way we used to before.

I told myself: in my business I am going to be one of the shining stars in this region. 

When I began the training, I started to grow mentally. I told myself: in my business I am going to be one of the shining stars in this region. 

Men are usually the ones who conduct the livestock business. We talked at home, and I was granted permission when I said I wanted to start a business. I had some savings that I had made from cultivating. I planted one hectare. From this one hectare I was lucky, I made Ksh 20,000 (USD 163). 

I used this money to buy a calf. My plan was that this calf would then reproduce and give me a bull or a cow. Then I would sell the first one to get money back. 

Another aim was to build a permanent house, not a mud house. I wanted changes. I started selling my cows and opened an account. 

Our women’s group went to a bank called K Unity. We started putting in savings. After 6 weeks, we took a loan. I took Ksh 50,000 (USD 408). Others did the same and ran maize businesses. I bought a cow and a mattress. 

With my facilitator job we are given a transport allowance. I saved the extra that remained after the transport fee. 

Now I have a house under construction, which my children are helping me to build. I was able to buy the iron sheets for the roofing with my own savings of Ksh 200,000 (USD 1,633).

I have been successful in business because I was able to broaden my mind and get big ideas. I am still progressing.

Now as a facilitator of Oloshaiki, I have had the opportunity to get close to the men and women in the community. We have come to know each other better and can talk openly. 

In this region I am now the chairperson of all the women’s groups. I am also in charge of women’s welfare in my village. I have taken to leadership very well. When we go to public forums, people ask: “Where is Mary Nkisonkoi?”  

The women of this region have changed. We recently started building and upgrading our family homes. In the old Maasai days, people went behind bushes when nature called. Through our efforts, we have been educating others on the importance of installing toilets. 

As part of the project, we also had an opportunity to plant trees. I planted the 50 seedlings I received around my house to make a living fence. I fetched water and watered my tree seedlings, and they are growing successfully. They will provide shade and we hope in the coming years the trees will have a positive impact on the local climate.

I have had a great opportunity to help empower women in my community and across my region. 

Step by step we are seeing progress. Recently, along with other facilitators, we talked to the MP and local councillor and told them we wanted roads and local health facilities. They promised us that we would get roads, and we now have a medical dispensary. The governor heard our cries. 

In the town of Suswa we participated at a meeting that was about national budgeting. We said we had problems with access to water and a hospital. They said they would deal with those issues. Now we know those issues will be addressed because we know how to follow up on our rights.

I urge women to take up leadership positions and fight for their rights in Kenya!

Women are not people to be oppressed. Once a woman is educated and can do her thing, the community is going to benefit more than if the husbands were to do the same. This is because women are at the heart of families and do much of the raising of the children. So, I urge women to wake up and take up leadership positions and fight for their rights in Kenya!

Mary Nkisonkoi is a beneficiary of the ILO’s Public Private Development Partnership (PPDP) in Kenya. The project aims to reduce poverty and improve living conditions through decent work and access to rights-based services among the rural population in the Great Rift Valley.

The PPDP is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), a government agency of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Through the project, Mary participated in adult education classes, a "Start and Improve Your Business" programme and financial education training.  

Mary started a self-help group for women in her community to help them start their own businesses and set up a "Chama", an informal cooperative society that is used to pool and invest savings.

In partnership with the non-governmental organzation, ForumCiv, the ILO also trained women, including Mary, as community trainers and facilitators, through Right(s) Way Forward (RWF).  RWF is a community-based methodology that seeks to empower community members to improve their capacity to formulate, advocate and claim their rights.

Inclusive Growth through Decent Work in the Great Rift Valley

Global Call to Action for a human-centred recovery 

When Mary Nkisonkoi was given an opportunity to advocate for women’s rights in her Maasai community, she aimed high and now represents women’s community groups across the Great Rift Valley in Kenya.

In a recent drought all my cattle died. I depend on farming to provide for my family. Some members of our rural community had no water at all. 

On my farm we grow different trees. There are mango trees and guava. We planted sorghum. I also have sheep and cows, but we mostly depend on agriculture. We are all farmers in my community, my Kebele, which is called Caradamadow.  

I have always worked on my farm and I would like to work in agriculture for the rest of my life and continue making a living from it to support my five sons and three daughters. 

We won’t need to beg for water anymore

We don’t have a health centre or hospital near us, and we have no roads, so if a woman goes into labour or someone gets sick it can be difficult to find a way to get out, to get to the hospital, especially if there is rain. 

Our Kebele doesn’t have electricity either, even though there are electric wires nearby.  

So, along with access to water, these are the biggest problems we face in our community.

They told us that they were proposing to build a basin to collect rainwater. When I heard this, I offered my farmland to them.

Farmer, village elder and community leader

Last year, a group of people from a non-governmental organization and the International Labour Organization (ILO) came to visit us. We welcomed them and we all gathered for a meeting. They told us that they were proposing to build a basin to collect rainwater and that they were looking for a place to build it. When I heard this, I offered my farmland to them.

At first, people were shocked when I gave them my land for this project. They thought that I’d given it away for nothing, or that I was giving my land to the government. Now when they see the water collection basin all of them wish it was closer to their farm.

The project hired many members of the community to build the basin, including men and women.

The people running the project also gave us good job opportunities. In total 41 members of the community benefited from the project to build the basin. No one got refused. Everyone got paid.

We worked for four months. I worked as a watchman. I spent all the summer season working with them. As a result, I survived the drought season, despite losing my cows, by using the income from this job.

I admit that before the project I thought that women couldn’t work, but we learned that women can work as well as men, if not better.

Before we started work on the basin, the ILO told me that men and women would work together – 25 men and 15 women. I was surprised.  It was something new for us.  

I admit that before the project I thought that women couldn’t work.  When you live in a rural area no one thinks women can do anything. 

But once we got started and saw the women working like men, working really hard, we learned that women can work as well as men, if not better. The women helped a lot and we completed our job successfully.

The money we earned from the project meant that I could buy what my children needed for school. 

With the money we earned from the building of the basin, we paid for our children’s school uniforms and provided them with pens, pencils and books. Every Thursday we paid for a religious teacher to teach them about the Koran.

Education has a lot of benefits. If we are educated, we can better understand things, and read and write. Then you can work in offices, and you can operate different machines.  

Also, education is important for this world and the hereafter. You can connect with Allah when you can read the religious texts. Reading and learning the Koran will help you to do good deeds.

Now with regular access to water, I plan to grow more crops like sorghum.

In our region, other communities want to have a basin near their place. Now that we have been trained we can collaborate with the ILO when they plan to build a basin elsewhere. We are ready to convince other people as we have benefited from the project. We will tell them how to build a basin and what the advantages are.

We used to beg for water from the city, but now that we have the basin we won’t need to beg for water anymore.

If Allah fills the basin with rainwater we can use it for all the dry season, and our entire Kebele community will get water from there.

Now that I can easily access the water for the farm, I want to expand and grow more crops.  This will allow me to send my children to the city to get a better education.  

If we eventually have a good road, as well as enough water, we will be fine.  We will be able to sell our agricultural products to people living in the city.  

There is nothing that we fear now, we are safe. We used to beg for water from the city, but now that we have the basin we won’t need to beg for water anymore.

Yasin and his community are beneficiaries of the ILO project: Enhancing Disaster Resilience through Employment-Intensive Waterworks in Jigjiga and Kebribeyah. 

One of the project’s aims was to curb the incidence of flooding through the construction of water-retaining structures using employment-intensive methods.

A second objective was to generate income for the affected communities, to showcase and demonstrate the benefits of the employment-intensive approach for public investment projects.

The ILO worked in partnership with Community Road Empowerment (CORE), a Japanese non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Nairobi, Kenya for the implementation of the construction of seven water basins, also known as detention ponds. 

The detention ponds are used as a flood mitigation measure during the rainy season while providing water for livestock and agriculture in the dry season.

The project is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

Enhancing disaster resilience through employment-intensive water works in Kebribeyah and Jigjiga

ILO topic portal on employment intensive investments

Yasin Muhumad Faarah, an Ethiopian farmer, lost all his cattle in a recent drought.  Without a regular supply of water, his future livelihood and that of other members of the community was in jeopardy. Together they built a water collection basin that promises a viable future for them all.

In 2020, when I was 13, my family’s world turn upside down. My parents had taken out a loan for my sister’s wedding.  A few months later the COVID-19 pandemic hit, schools temporarily shut and my father fell ill. We had to borrow even more money to pay for my father's treatment. Because of this, my parents couldn’t afford to pay my school fees and I didn’t go back to school when it re-opened. 

Instead, I went to work with my mother at a mica processing unit to help earn extra money. We weren’t paid very much. My mother and other workers tried asking for better wages, but without success. They were paid US 6 cents per kilo. Together, my mother and I would make USD 1.5 – USD 3 a week. I got paid less for the work I did because I was a child.

At the mica processing unit women sort through baskets of mica flakes. Mica is a dust mineral used in cosmetics, paints and electronics.

At the worksite there wasn’t anything to protect us from the mica dust, and it made me cough and vomit. We worked seven days a week. If we fell sick, we didn’t get paid. It was difficult work.

At the worksite there wasn’t anything to protect us from the mica dust, and it made me cough and vomit. 

The worksite managers mistreated and humiliated us. I didn't feel respected, or that they even saw me as a person. My mother felt helpless, she didn't want me subjected to that kind of treatment but she couldn’t do anything to change it. 

I didn’t like going to the worksite, but I had no other choice. I missed studying and playing with my friends.

Suman Kumari with her mother and other members of her family.

Last year, I heard about a children’s club “Balmanch”, from my friends who had started going to school. I wanted to join them too, but my parents weren’t sure about it. The people working at Balmanch talked to my parents about the benefits of me going to school rather than working. They explained how working from a young age would keep us trapped in poverty and how Balmanch could support my education and help me towards the future I dreamed of.

Eventually, Balmanch helped me to enrol in school again. I received books and supplies for school from a scholarship. I am back in school with my friends, and I am happy.   

Suman Kumari and other children at Balmanch children’s club in her community. So that Suman could catch up on her education, Balmanch helped her access online lessons and provided study materials. 

I still go to Balmanch and look forward to seeing everyone there. Balmanch taught me life skills and my rights as a child and helped me catch up with the teaching that I missed.

The organization that supports Balmanch also helped my parents. They were taught how to cultivate vegetables so they could earn an extra income without having to rely solely on the mica work. They were also given safety training and some protective equipment so that the work processing the mica did not make them sick.

My mother now grows many vegetables including tomatoes in her kitchen garden. 

Many of the children at Balmanch are girls. When there are problems in a family, I’ve seen that it’s the girls who stop school first, not the boys. My father had his education stopped in grade 8, and my mother never went to school, because of the difficult conditions they grew up with.

My dream is to become a police officer. I also want to go and work and live in a big city.

My father is better now, and he's back at work. I try to help my mother with housework and am teaching her to write her name. Although she didn’t go to school, my mother keeps a record of the house expenses and uses a mobile phone. 

My parents want me to continue my studies and go to college. My dream is to become a police officer. I also want to go and work and live in a big city.

Balmanch is supported by the International Labour Organization’s Asia Regional Child Labour (ARC) project which is funded by the government of the United Kingdom and implemented by the non-governmental organization Terres des Hommes.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Balmanch or ‘children’s club’ programme identified children of families working in India’s mica sector, who were at risk of not receiving formalized education, to help them enrol back in school.  

The ARC project has three key interventions: setting up labour desks at village and municipal levels to create local labour market information systems, capacity development on occupational safety and health, and promotion and facilitation of additional livelihood opportunities such as agro-based activities for adults.

A significant portion of the world’s mica reserves are found in India. Mica is a mineral dust used in cosmetics, paints and electronics.

10.1 million children are estimated to be in labour in India according to the most recent national census.

India has ratified ILO Convention 138 on minimum working age and ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labour.

Getting children out of labour and back to learning

Asia Regional Child Labour Programme (ARC)

Terre des Hommes – India: Child labour in mica products

Global Call to Action for a Human-centred Recovery

When Suman Kumari was 13 her father became ill and the family fell into debt. When COVID-19 hit and with creditors at the door, she joined her mother at her workplace processing mica, a mineral dust used in cosmetics, paints and electronics. An ILO project has helped her return to school.

The mica dust made me sick, I’m glad to be back at school

I admit in the beginning it was difficult and challenging to start a business. I was afraid, I was uncertain. My paid traineeship at Most Jablanica Women’s Association was ending, and COVID-19 was hitting us.

I have a degree in agricultural engineering.  But my contract was expiring. I was worried for my future, just like everyone else, because it was a very uncertain time. I had two options left; to leave Bosnia and Herzegovina to start a new life and find a job abroad or to start my own business.

Entrepreneur turns problems into profit

Then I heard about an International Labour Organization (ILO) project to support start-ups. I was worried about how I would handle the application procedure for such a large project, which was called EU4Business and was financed by the European Union and the Federal Republic of Germany. But I knew this was the perfect opportunity to turn my disadvantages into advantages. 

Having my ideas heard for the first time and supported and guided by ILO experts was not to be missed, so I took the chance and applied. I was new to the world of entrepreneurship, and it took a lot of work, patience and research to get to where we are now.

The municipality of Jablanica is a major tourist destination in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is situated on the Neretva river.

Jablanica, my hometown, is an historic location in Bosnia & Herzegovina. The Battle on the Neretva took place here during the Second World War. The place attracts visitors from within and outside the country. 

By collaborating with tourism agencies, I am proud to promote my region, especially by producing authentic products which link tradition and my town. Naturally, it is more difficult to succeed in a small community, but when you are recognized in your small town, then the rest is easier. 

Due to the support I was granted, and awareness of the potential and rich local resources in agriculture, tourism, and services, I decided to attend entrepreneurship Start your Business training, also held by the ILO. 

Because the pandemic stopped everything, people couldn't buy products coming from other parts of the world. Shelves were empty. We realized that our products are considered to have medicinal value in helping to boost people's immune systems. So we took advantage of the moment when people wanted to benefit from domestic products and services to create a local and sustainable business.

We produce vegetable juices, fruit syrups, jams, marmalades, sweets and a whole range of traditional products. We stand out because we work according to original traditional recipes. Our most popular product is an apple jam without any additional sugar. It is produced by boiling only pure apple juice, as our ancestors did.

We source our fruit, like these blackberries, from local organic farmers.

Not only do I create agricultural products, but the company also offers all sort of local services, catering, production of souvenirs, textiles and cleaning services.

At Most Jablanica we strive to be socially responsible. We hire mostly women from rural areas and marginalized groups, so they’ll be able to increase their purchasing power and therefore help their families and relatives.

As well as employing four women in the company, we hire and recommend our women, who are members of Most Jablanica Women’s Association, for different activities such as cleaning and maintenance services.

Our company provides benefits to many local women as well as the community itself. All the fruits and vegetables that we use come from local organic suppliers.

Our company provides benefits to many local women as well as the community itself. It benefits everyone.

I believe I am an example of female entrepreneurship and I try to fight for women's equality and show that female entrepreneurs can succeed.

Usually most of the businesses are led by men, in industry, public services and elsewhere. We are breaking stereotypes. Today more and more women are taking the lead role and running successful businesses.

Merima and an employee carry a kitchen tray full of fresh, local blackberries.  

Despite the challenges, my business has actually grown during the pandemic and is managing to stand up to larger multi-national companies.

By producing healthy, local food, I can export our products throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina with online orders. It is a “Made in B&H” success.

A souvenir stall stocking the company’s products, which are made to traditional Jablanica designs. Merima wants to show her municipality in the best light to attract a large number of tourists.

The future may be uncertain, but this is what I would like to do, be recognized as an all-woman company.

During the process I have changed. I have seen that I am capable of running a successful business and helping fellow women in the community.

I would recommend to future entrepreneurs, above all to women entrepreneurs, to always take what is offered at a given moment. We should not be afraid, and we should take risks.  We should do what we love, because today there aren't many women doing the jobs they love.

I would recommend to future entrepreneurs, above all to women entrepreneurs, to always take what is offered at a given moment. We should not be afraid and we should take risks.  

EU4Business is a €16.1 million project supported by the European Union and the Federal Republic of Germany, jointly implemented by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), ILO and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) between 2018 to 2022. The project, which has created more than 900 jobs, was designed to boost the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, strengthen exports and support employment.

The key achievement of the ILO component was to support the establishment of 123 new businesses, which have so far created 145 jobs. The ILO also trained and mentored new entrepreneurs and supported the best business plans with grants.

The EU4Business project continued to provide this assistance during the COVID-19 crisis. Not only did these start-ups survive but most of them managed to grow and create jobs.

ILO supports first entrepreneurial steps and contributes to the creation of more than 120 new businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina

COVID-19 response: EU4Business recovery in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Start and Improve Your Business Programme (SIYB)

Global Call to Action for a human-centered recovery 

When COVID-19 hit, Merima Kukić Gego’s future looked bleak. Her traineeship had ended and her options in rural Bosnia and Herzegovina looked like unemployment or migration. But instead she found the drive to start a food and tourism business, employing and economically empowering other local women.

When I got the chance to obtain a certificate and be formally recognized as a professional welder, I was eager to take up the opportunity. Before, I had no proof of the skills and experience I had gained from 25 years of learning informally on-the-job.

I never went to school or undertook training programmes to learn to weld. I also never finished high school. My father had to take me out of school because he had suffered a big financial loss and couldn’t afford to keep us all in school. You can imagine how depressing this was for me as a young boy, to miss out on an education while all my friends continued. But I had no one to blame really. It pained my father to remove me from school but there were younger siblings who had to start their education. 

Although my father could not enrol me in a training institute, he decided to take me to a small warehouse in Tanga Region on the mainland of Tanzania where I would apprentice as a welder. I left home for the first time and spent two years learning my trade in Tanga.

What I like most is welding work on trucks and tractors. 

After returning to Zanzibar I did not have enough skills to get a good job, but I had enough knowledge to work as an informal contract worker in small construction jobs. Once the contracts were finished I would go back to whatever I could find. 

I learned a lot over those next five years, working on a variety of projects from residential homes to construction sites and garages. I realised l liked to work with vehicles such as trucks and buses, and I managed to get a full-time job with a government-owned agricultural project as an irrigation truck and machine repairman and welder. I have been working there ever since.

I work in the welding and blacksmithing department. After reporting to my supervisor, I usually start working on about three different tractors. Currently we have more than 700 tractors and machines which need to be fixed, so we are very busy!

After 25 years of on-the-job experience as a welder in Zanzibar, Tanzania, 53-year-old Hussein Juma Hassan had his skills formally recognized.  The certification process has helped him realise the value of his skills and also increased his income. Now he wants to give back to his community and train young people to become welders.

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