The Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD) said Saturday that $250 million USD will be allocated towards the implementation of a Women's Economic Empowerment Program over the next five years. 

Acting minister Faizullah Zaki said the role of the international community in the implementation of this program is also extremely important. 

Zaki said the program will also provide financial assistance to women.

The main aim of the program, which was one of the commitments made by the Afghan government in Brussels, is to improve living standards for women in the country and to encourage them to start up their own businesses.

According to Zaki, besides the financial support for women, assistance will also be given to women on how to start up businesses and to help with skills development. 

“The program includes grants for women who invest or start a business, and the skills of these women will be enhanced for them to improve their businesses,” said Zaki. 

Meanwhile officials at the ministry of commerce and industry said that in order to improve local commerce in the country, the government needs to implement other necessary programs.

Officials said that to improve the economic status of women and create jobs for them, the export sector needs to increase.

“We strive to increase the export of domestic goods in this sector, and by increasing exports, we can deal with the problems faced by businesswomen,” said Kamila Siddiqi deputy minister.

At the moment, the lack of specific bazaars for women, the lack of long-term loans and lack of infrastructure for them are among the challenges that most women face.

A number of businessmen said that in the last few years, due to the many problems in this sector, most of the small and medium-sized enterprises run by women have gone bankrupt.