Largest USAID Women’s Empowerment Program in the World Launched in Afghanistan

[niyad]

Largest USAID Women’s Empowerment Program in the World Launched in Afghanistan




The United States Agency for International Development launched its largest women’s empowerment program in the world on Saturday. Called “Promote,” the program will invest up to $416 million dollars into the education, training, and promotion of Afghan women in civil society, government, and business.


The US has committed $200 million to Promote and is seeking $216 million from other donors for the five-year program. Promote will target Afghan women between the ages of 18-35 who have had secondary education. The program has four components: leadership training; the promotion of women in decision-making roles within the government; inclusion of women in the workplace, particularly in technology, finance, and administration; and strengthening the capacity of women’s rights groups and coalitions.

Both President Ashraf Ghani and Afghan Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Adbullah attended the launch of Promote in Kabul with USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah and other officials. Ghani and Adbullah both spoke about giving more roles to women in government and the need for women’s inclusion in economic development.
Administrator Shah explained that Promote, while a women’s empowerment program, is designed to foster development in Afghanistan as a whole. “Promote helps the Afghan people see that investing in a woman’s chances to succeed is essential to their own economic prosperity and national security,” said Shah. “By investing in women as champions for development, we can advance peace and broad-based growth across Afghanistan.”

Women in Afghanistan have made extraordinary progress over the last 13 years since the collapse of the Taliban regime and have played a critical role in the rebuilding of civil society. US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Catherine Russell acknowledged this progress in video remarks prepared for the launch, but noted that much work remains for Afghan women to be “fully empowered to participate in their communities.”

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http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2014/11/11/largest-usaid-womens-empowerment-program-in-the-world-launched-in-afghanistan/