Kamila Sidiqi

Kamila Sidiqi is an entrepreneur, government official, and the subject of New York Times Bestseller The Dressmaker of Khair Khana.

Background

Sidiqi received her teaching certificate the same day the Taliban arrived in Kabul, rendering her unable to work. Without any means of supporting her family, the then 19-year-old turned to dressmaking. With the help of her sisters, she opened a tailoring school in their home to teach women to sew and provide employment after their training was completed. The venture went on to employ nearly 100 of Sidiqi's neighbours without attracting the Taliban's attention.

Career

In 2004, following the fall of the Taliban, Sidiqi set up Kaweyan Business Development Services^[1] to bring business and leadership skills to women and men in remote rural communities and cities. In her role as CEO, Sidiqi travelled across a country where few women could venture without a male relative to escort them, and where aid workers often travel with armed guards or local police. Her aim was to train rural communities in the basics of entrepreneurship. Kaweyan BDS was Afghanistan’s first business development company run by a woman. It trained 5,000 people (70 percent of them women) in business and leadership.

Since 2014, Sidiqi has been on the board of NGO Hand in Hand Afghanistan (a part of the Hand in Hand International network),^[2] an NGO that helps the rural poor in Afghanistan to turn their skills and potential into jobs. She provides strategic direction to the organization, which has trained 22,000 micro-entrepreneurs (mostly women) who have gone on to create over 8,000 businesses.^[3]

Sidiqi is a founding member of Leading Entrepreneurs of Afghanistan Development (LEAD). She is also a member of a number of influential international women’s associations including the Steering Committee for the South Asia Women Entrepreneurs Symposium.

In October 2014, she became the Deputy Chief of Staff for the President's office at Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

References