$25m to be spent on policewomen

KABUL) official said on Monday.

BG Garasic Gordana gender advisor to ISAF, told journalists in Kabul the amount would be spent next year through the Ministry of Interior (MoI), with ISAF monitoring the process.

Col. Hikmat Shahi, chief of Gender and Human Rights Division at MoI, said a plan had been chalked out how to spend the assistance.

The money would be spent in areas like recruitment of women into police, capacity-building, health centers for them, she said.

She added they also were planning to increase the number of female police recruits from the current 2,600 to 10,000 over the next 10 years.

Gen. Abdul Hakim Rahimi, deputy head of the human rights department at the Ministry of Defence, said his ministry had been trying to enlist more female officers in the army.

“Continued insecurity and a lack of interest keep women from joining the armed forces,” he said.

hg/ma/mud