Ex-rebels, poor women attend vocational training

QALA-I-NAW (PAN, completed a sevenths month vocational training course in northwestern Badghis province on Tuesday, officials said.

Funded by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the project cost 22 million afghanis ($446,247), with the beneficiaries including 200 former rebels and 145 women, the labour and social affairs director said.

Mohammad Arif Shams told Pajhwok Afghan News the training focused on weaving carpets and jackets, architecture, gardening, carpentry, embroidery, greenhouses, bee-keeping and repair of vehicles and motorbikes.

The key objective the training course was to create work opportunities for widows and those renouncing the insurgency, the director explained.

Provincial council head, Khlil Achakzai, promised providing similar opportunities for other insurgents willing to join the peace process. Nearly 1,229 rebels have joined the process in the province so far during the current year.

“Now I can easily meet my family needs by carpet weaving,” one of the ex-fighters, Mullah Sadi, said, hoping the training would benefit all participants.

mm/ma/mud

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