Kabul's Women Only Market

I just received Mercy Corps’ Mother’s Day e-newsletter. I was very interested to learn from it that a women-only market has been designed in Kabul, Afghanistan. Is this really a good idea? Doesn’t this perpetuate the situation in Afghanistan which keeps women separate but unequal and second-class? Maybe so. But in the short run, Bagh-e-Zanana Women’s Market has made life easier for Afghan women still subject to Afghanistan’s strict customs. According to Cassandra Nelson in A Hand Up, Not a Handout in Kabul, Afghanistan, Lending a Hand and a Little Bit More, this new women’s market "has opened the door to possibilities that until this year were unthinkable to most Afghan women. In the center of the crowded and teaming city, behind a tall wall and gate monitored by security officers, lies an oasis for women." Nelson goes on to describe how, "Here in this protected park setting, women are free to run businesses, dress as they please and simply relax without the cultural pressures and stares of men that have kept women at home and hidden under the burka for decades."

Nelson profiles several businesses run by women in the market: a beauty shop, an exotic Asian women’s clothing store, and the Hashim Super Store, launched by 45-year-old Aziza Rajabi. Before the market, Aziza had to sell clothing through middlemen. She had to stay locked in her house and found it difficult to meet other women. Now she can sell her clothing directly to her customers. She is out of the house all day and able to easily meet other women.

Mercy Corps helps women’s businesses in this market by providing loans through their microfinance program, Ariana Financial Services Group, which they started in April 2003. This program was started with an initial grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Mercy Corps funds. The program is now funded through Afghanistan’s Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development and the World Bank. It enables many businesses, including the women’s businesses, to move to the next level by providing loans to help entrepreneurs open shops, purchase generators, purchase equipment and materials, and expand businesses and product lines. This helps the women move beyond mere existence into a more stable financial position.