The Afghan women in the last two decades before the collapse of the republic government in 2021, had carved out a tentative place in the country’s economy, but their progress remains vulnerable in the wake of a fragile economic situation.
Afghan women during this period of years have participated and played an important role in improving the country’s labor force where at the early 2021 it was nearly 30 percent. It was the result of growing support to the women in the workplaces and according to the survey conducted by the Asian Foundation two years ago reveled that 76 percent of Afghans agreed that women should be allowed to work outside the home.
Afghanistan Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AWCCI) in early 2021 revealed that of the 17,369 women-owned businesses they indexed, the majority are less than five years old.
However, despite the industry remaining nascent, women entrepreneurship were able to create more than 129,000 jobs which were held by women.
At the same time there were most women-owned businesses around 95 percent that were unlicensed, according to AWCCI. The reason is that many of these women are operating on the fringes of the economy and face difficulties to find markets. On several occasions, these women use their personal savings to get their enterprises off the ground and prevent from complete collapse.
They are busy in the area of clothing and handicraft, food production and education sectors as well as some farming activities including saffron cultivation and honey harvesting.
Women entrepreneurs under Taliban rule
The Afghan entrepreneurs are improving under the Taliban rule, and many Afghan women are reengaged in private business. Despite the Taliban having imposed some restrictions on women’s social activities, the women have not lost courage and are making efforts to re-establish their businesses.
Over 200 businesswomen on Monday participated in a special exhibition of women’s handicrafts in Kabul despite strict measures against women’s social activities in Afghanistan. The exhibition was organized by AWCCI.
In this exhibition, which was held under the name of “Silk” was organized for two days, in which 220 businesswomen from all over Afghanistan participated.
One of the main purposes of this exhibition is to create work and encourage women to private business in order to reach self-sufficient in terms of economy.
Such exhibitions are important to improve women’s economy which rely on their dependence on their male partner.
Despite restrictions, the number of businesswomen has increased many fold as it was 2,400 two years ago and now it stands at 7,000 under the rule of the Taliban.
Though it is a good development, entrepreneurship requires education and support. Without access to universities or even high schools in most of the country the number of female entrepreneurs will just stagnate and the Taliban in first move banned girls from schools in sixth grades. Universities were also closed and women barred from going to workplaces.
Homemade product
One of the participants said that she just finished school when the Taliban returned to power, but can’t go to the university. She, who restrained to divulge her name, told Harici that she is not happy with the closure of schools and universities. She asked the Taliban to revive its decision and let the girls go to the educational centers.
“I participated in this exhibition to show my ability,” she said, adding that she has brought home-made food that she and his father cook.
The economy is not good, and we have to work, she said, and furthered that she and his father worked to find earnings to feed the rest of the family members. “There are seven members in the family, and my two other sisters are also deprived of going to school. They were in class eleven,” she lamented.
Starting small business
The organizers of this exhibition termed the purpose behind holding such an event to encourage women who have started a small business in the past year.
On the sidelines of this exhibition, a training roundtable on small investment methods for women was also held so that these women can promote their businesses.
The current unrest in Afghanistan and seizure of its central bank asset has undermined the country’s economic growth. Besides that the Taliban ordered women to stay at home until for notice that itself played an immense role in destabilizing the fragile economy of the country. Even women staff of NGS and humanitarian aid organizations were also told to remain at home.
Meanwhile, the Taliban has so far not include any women in its leadership and already the ministry of women’s affairs in its first day of governing.
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