What started as a simple joy of making cookies for family and friends quickly flourished in brown sugar, a brand that embodies both its love for desserts and its trip to independence.

“I liked to eat candies,” said Eman Fareed, a retired mother and official UN News While cooking in his kitchen.

“At the beginning, I cooked cookies just for my family. They loved the taste, and soon, my friends started to encourage me to sell them. It was then that I realized that I could transform it into something bigger. ”

Part of a basic model

It is among the beneficiaries of Kaaf Humaninian, a non -profit organization (NGO) launched in Bahrain in 2021 which has become a basic model for the realization of Sustainable development objectives (ODD) by empowering individuals and communities for autonomy.

Kaaf has shown the fruit of her efforts, including spices and cookies made by Ms. Fareed and others during an exhibition during the fifth Investment Forum in Entrepreneurship (Weif), held in Manama, Bahrain, in 2024 and facilitated by the industrial development of the United Nations (Unido), in Bahrain.

As for the forum, the members approved the Manama declaration, calling on the international community to exploit the power of entrepreneurship and innovation to reach the SDGs, strongly emphasizing the inclusion of productive families.

What is a “productive family”?

Saud Al Mahmood, specialist in public relations at Kaaf Humanitarian, said that productive families are those “who are based on the skills of their members to support family and improve their standard of living”.

“Helping productive families is very important because it is not only a question of helping individuals; It is a question of helping the whole family, “he said, noting that Kaaf offers families training and the tools they need to improve their products and compete on the market.

“Our work addresses many SDGs, including those related to water, food and refuge, as well as to improve the economy. We are always encouraged to collaborate with the United Nations and other organizations. ”

A passion for spices

Noora Khalid Musaifer, another beneficiary of Kaaf, said that she was inspired by her mother’s love for cooking and roasting coffee.

After getting married, she started mixing Bahrainite spices and, over time, developed to include different spice notes, Daqoos pepper and coffee roasting, all made with high quality ingredients and under the Mallawal brand.

It treats spices – washing, drying, roasting and packaging – at home. While she was initially sold them under her home brand, participation in exhibitions and opportunities emerging through the COVID 19 The forty pandemic helped his business prosper.

From investment to the brand

A key factor in the successful course of Ms. Fareed and Ms. Musaifer was the support of Kaaf Humanitarian, who provided them financial support, packaging equipment and brand assistance.

Ms. Musaifer is the family support of her family, having made spices for 20 years and joined Kaaf a decade ago.

“Their financial support allowed me to get high quality spices,” she said, adding that some of the spices she gets from the market or Bahrainian companies who import them from India and are very expensive.

Social media as a marketing tool

Fareed said Kaaf Humanitaire had been a pillar of her success in the cooking field.

“The technology is crucial in today’s world, and they have helped me to adapt.”

She started her business after her retirement in 2014, but initially missed advice on how to develop it.

“When I joined Humanitarian Kaaf, they trained me in business management, social skills and digital marketing,” she said, stressing that the NGO has provided it financial and moral support. “They taught me to take professional photos of my products and maximize online sales.”

Reinforcement of women’s capacities

One afternoon, 15 women entrepreneurs gathered for a training session at Kaaf’s humanitarian house in the suburbs of Manama, each bringing their products to share with others, presenting their mastery of skills.

“They are housewives. Some worked, but now they work at home, “said Budoor Buhijji, a university speaker who directed the session.

“They manage small entrepreneurial projects: food, candies, spices, chocolates, pens and craft products that they can sell in their communities. And they hope to extend beyond their community and to become international. ”

Challenges and dreams for the future

As a female entrepreneur in a commercial environment traditionally dominated by men, Ms. Musaifer considers her success as a testimony to the strength of Bahrainites women, able to balance the responsibilities of work and the family.

“I dream of opening a shop under my name, where I can continue to make hand-made spices and traditional foods,” she said, “she said

For Ms. Fareed, being a businesswoman in Bahrain is already a success because business has traditionally been dominated by men.

“In my family, women were not encouraged to work alongside men or to manage businesses, but over time, my father saw my strength and supported me,” she said. “Now I feel confident and empowered.”

For the future, she dreams of extending her business to a factory.

“I want to build something big, have my own team and leave an inheritance for my children. One day, I will tell them how I became a strong and independent woman. ”

The crisis continues therefore. And brain flight intensifies.

But what happens if there was a way to reverse brains leak? This is the question that the International Migration Organization (Iom) Asked questions about Somalia.

“There was a lot of brain flight in Somalia. How to bring these skills that they have been able to achieve in their country of residence in their country of origin? ” said Yvonne Jepkoech Chelmio, a Iom Official focused on work and migration in Africa.

The migration migration program in Africa for development (Mid) Selects members of the Somali diaspora who are experts in the selected fields and places them in local hospitals, schools and national ministries in order to build self -sufficiency of Somalia.

Over the past 20 years, Mida has sponsored the return of more than 400 Somalians from 17 different countries. These returnees have worked in many areas – including education and health, as well as climate action, town planning and the rule of law – all in the hope of advancing sustainable development in Somalia.

‘Change engines’

The Somali Civil War that started in 1991 caused a mass movement, both internally and externally. More than 30 years later, the situation has improved, but security continues to be a problem which, in turn, is in danger of sustainable development.

“What is happening in countries like Somalia is that someone becomes skilful in an educated field, he does not want to stay here. So you lose talent, you lose skills, “said the pedagogy expert, Shire Salad, participating in the diaspora in the Mida program, which was placed in the Ministry of Education to work alongside his evaluation development team.

With two million Somalians living abroad, the Somali diaspora has long played an essential role in the country’s economy. The money they refer as a funds sometimes exceeds direct foreign aid, totaling more than $ 2 billion per year and contributing at least a third of national GDP.

But the MIDA deviates from an only economic understanding of the contributions of the diaspora, creating rather ways for their return which underline their technical skills, their expertise and their international networks.

“” [The diaspora] Serving bridges, as ambassadors, as engines of the actors of change and development, “said Nasra Sheikh Ahmed, one of the OIM officials in charge of the program.

And according to Ms. Ahmed, who is a member of the Somali diaspora herself, one of the most remarkable things in the MIDA program is that she has something that already exists-the Somali diaspora wants to come back.

“” [The diaspora] Always see him like their house. They are not immigrants in another country. They always see themselves as Somalians. They consider themselves an extension, living mainly elsewhere. »»

Heart education

While the MIDA program has worked in many sectors, one of the main sectors on which the MIDA program has concentrated is education.

Mohamed Gure, professor at Somali University National, participated in the Mida program as a local professional who worked alongside the members of the diaspora to improve the program of studies for budding teachers.

When Dr. Gure started his studies years ago, he said that there were no programs in Somalia which offered a doctorate in education. So, like many others, he went abroad.

Today, he sees a new problem – not enough that Somalians want to become teachers, and those who believe that they do not need formal training.

“Class teachers have no training to be a teacher. This will affect the quality of long -term Somalia education, “said Dr. Gure.

Over a few years, Dr. Gure worked alongside the diaspora professionals to develop a new study program and create a sustainable partnership with the University of Helsinki in Finland.

For him, the advantages of this new program are already clear – students learn more, and online collaborations with students in Helsinki create an international expertise network.

“All this [training] is a resource for the country. All programs that have been developed for the country will remain. It will be used by teachers who can train other teachers, “said Dr. Gure.

A double -meaning street

Partnerships, like that which Dr. Gure, has known, is an essential part of the long -term impact of the MIDA program, ensuring that even after the professional leave of the diaspora, their contributions remain.

“We have not only provided transfer skills to two people, but these two people can now transfer to four people. There is therefore more sustainability in terms of process, “said Chelmio.

But this transfer of skills is not without challenges. Many diaspora returning to Somalia have left for years, sometimes decades. The Somalia to which they return is very different from that they have left.

“Although you can speak the language and you can understand this culture, they always see you as a stranger,” said Dr. Salad, who left Somalia when he was quite young and “came back with gray hair”.

The adaptation of expertise to the Somali context is essential to sustainable development, and it is something that local professionals are only equipped, creating a bidirectional street with the two parties acting as full -fledged experts.

“” [The diaspora] I do not understand the context, the dynamics of the country itself. The local expert is able to give the diaspora expert the perspective, ”said Chelmio.

A future in which Somalians remain

Mida has, in small ways, reversed the brain flight of recent decades. He brought hundreds of members of the diaspora. And even if they did not stay, their skills and their expertise did it.

But, the Somalians always leave the country, risking their lives on boats towards the Gulf and in Europe by pure despair and many of them die.

Dr. Salad hopes that one day for Somalia, there will be no brain flight to reverse.

“If they had hope in this country, they would have stayed. If they thought this country was going to be a better country, they would have stayed. I hope that the younger generations would have this hope, that they will stay. ”

In his regular daily briefing, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric stressed that the delays in progress, the bottlenecks in the maintenance points and the interference in the process of loading the cross platforms are efforts to collect and distribute supplies to those who need it.

“” It is imperative that the UN and its humanitarian partners are able to provide large -scale aidUsing community mechanisms to reach the most vulnerable, “he said.

Injured while trying to reach food

Recent figures illustrate the extent of the challenge. Between May 27 and August 8, the Rafah Red Cross hospital treated more than 4,500 injured patients-most of the reported injuries suffered during the attempt to reach food distribution sites.

Many were injured in crowd crushing or subjected to theft or violence immediately after receiving critical food aid.

Out of 12 assistance missions requiring coordination with the Israeli authorities on Thursday, five were facilitated without obstacle. Four missions were canceled by the organizers, and three others were hampered and finally fully accomplished – there is in particular the food aid collection of Zikim and Kerem Shalom / Karem Abu Salem Crossings.

The UN spokesperson also underlined an ongoing famine crisis, with an increasing number of deaths, especially in children.

Hospitals find it difficult to deal with the increase in malnutrition cases and many facilities have been short of bed space to treat patients, he said.

No cooking fuel

Energy shortages aggravate the crisis, said Dujarric, noting that cooking gas has not been available on the Gaza markets for five months, while firewood has become more and more unaffordable.

“” More people use the use of waste and wood rackets as alternative fuel sources For cooking, which only allows health and protection risks, and causes environmental risks, “he added.

Protect civilians on the run

He also pointed out that civilians should be protected in the event of extended military operations in Gaza City.

“” The leakage of civilians must be protected and they must satisfy their essential needsAnd they must be able to return voluntarily when the situation allows. And if they choose to stay, they should not be threatened or endanger, “he said.

Mr. Dujarric has also reiterated the long -standing call from the UN to the immediate and unconditional exit of the hostages held in the strip.