Ishtar Handmade Soap

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Ishtar Handmade Soap: eco products for healthier life that provides job opportunities for women

baghdad, Iraqbaghdad, Iraq
Year Founded:
2013
Organization type: 
for profit
Project Stage:
Growth
Budget: 
$10,000 - $50,000
Website:
https://www.facebook.com/Ishtar.handmade/
Twitter: 
https://twitter.com/Ishtarhandmade
Facebook: 
https://www.facebook.com/Ishtar.handmade/
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Project Summary
Elevator Pitch

Concise Summary: Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short sentences.

Ishtar Handmade Soap is the first Sustainable business in Iraq that provides handmade non chemical cleansing products for healthier life and provide job opportunities for women , our goal is to create healthier clean environment and provide job opportunities for women in need in all around Iraq

WHAT IF - Inspiration: Write one sentence that describes a way that your project dares to ask, "WHAT IF?"

what if we can creat healthier environment in a war zone and provide job opportunities for women in need ?
About Project

Problem: What problem is this project trying to address?

after the war 2003 the Iraqi markets was filled with cheap products from unknown brands from all around the world , women started using these products because we never had education about chemical products, and through the last 10 years the number of cancer and Infertility patients increased 5 times more than before another problem our project trying to address is the unemployment specially for women who have less chances in finding a job.

Solution: What is the proposed solution? Please be specific!

Ishtar handmade project work on raising awareness about using cleansing products and how we can achieve a healthier environment and healthier life by getting rid of all the chemical brands in the Iraqi market and replacing them with handmade national products that are made by our women

Awards

we did not recieved Awards , but many coferences spoke about our project and also we have now more media attention
Impact: How does it Work

Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.

we make a difference by showing our new researches about the cause of most cancer and Infertility cases in Iraq and raise awareness about the importance of leaving chemical products and how it's important to turn to the Iraqi national handmade production for healthier life and provide job opportunities in a time women in Iraq have less chances than men to find a job

Impact: What is the impact of the work to date? Also describe the projected future impact for the coming years.

we were successful to reach so many people in Iraq and raising their awareness about why we started this project , we have now more than 12,000 followers on our Facebook page , and our products are in 2 big malls in Baghdad , we also have orders from all the states in Iraq not only Baghdad , and we have daily orders and great reviews from our customer about how we affected their life specially by healing eczema and skin conditions with our soaps , in the future we are trying to reach all people and increase our production to help other people outside Iraq and raise awareness about the importance of healthier environment in the MENA region and export our healthy products to other countries .

Spread Strategies: Moving forward, what are the main strategies for scaling impact?

we are working on making workshops for women around Iraq to teach them how to make the products so we have women who work in all Iraq , we also try to connect with the government so they can give our soaps in the monthly food grants instead of the chemical soap they give monthly , we also try to open market with our products because until this moment we work on delivering orders from my home only ,
Sustainability

Financial Sustainability Plan: What is this solution’s plan to ensure financial sustainability?

we are trying to have our own workshop in Baghdad so we can increase our production by increasing our workers

Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?

there is no projects that are addressing this problem in Iraq
Team

Founding Story

the project was founded after one of my best friends had cancer , i was making researches so i can help her in any way until i found something i did not know which is the products we use for cleansing , i was making researches , reading stories and books on the internet , i was reading every ingredients on the products i see in the markets and find similar ingredients that most of them share which is all chemical , i wanted to make a change and raise awareness to help other women be healthier , and find job opportunists for unemployed women , so i quit my previous job and applied for a scholarship in Sweden which i was accepted in that helped me to know how to start my business

Team

Zinah saleh the founder : work on making products and managing the business and hiring and teaching women and there is also 2 other women helping in making the soaps and 2 admins on facebook and twitter and media , 2 women work on packing , one woman work on buying the raw materials we use , and another 3 we call when we have big sales , and 2 Drivers for delivering the products to customers
Background
Please confirm how you heard about the Unilever Awards:

facebook page

Please confirm your role in the initiative (eg Founder/co-Founder) and your organisational title:

founder

Which of the 8 UN Global Goals (Sustainable Development Goals) pre-selected for this competition does your solution relate most closely to? [select all that apply]

No Poverty, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Climate Action.

Leadership and the Unilever Awards
Please provide examples of any previous entrepreneurial initiatives you have pioneered.

diploma of she_entrepreneurs 2014 program by the Swedish institute in Stockholm

Beyond your existing team, who else are you working with to achieve your objectives, eg partners, advisors, mentors?

my entrepreneurs friends who are great advisers