US provides $50m for instant creation of jobs for Afghans

KABUL (Pajhwok): The United States on Sunday announced plans to invest an additional $50 million in two ongoing projects to stimulate immediate job creation for the Afghans. 

US Ambassador P. Michael McKinley, acknowledging the past year as a difficult time for the Afghan people, pledged support for the Ashraf Ghani administration’s commitment to clear blockages and speed disbursement of on-budget programmes already underway. 

“We support the government’s effort to provide resources for jobs now, to serve as a ‘bridge’ until the Afghans feel the improved economic conditions and employment that will eventually result from the government’s reform efforts,” he said in a statement.

As part of this bridge, the US government has contributed an additional $35 million to the Afghanistan Trust Fund for the National Solidarity Programme. 

This funding will enable Community Development Councils to hire local citizens to implement priority development projects in their villages, according to the statement. 

Community Development Councils could use the new funding to create approximately 4.5 million days of short-term work in the coming six to nine months.

The other $15 million will fund the creation of thousands of paid, professional apprentice/trainee positions for women at small and medium-sized businesses in the next six to eighteen months. 

The funding will incentivise the immediate creation of new private sector jobs by lowering the cost to firms for hiring and training new employees. Currently, Afghan women make up only 15 percent of the workforce.

pr/mud

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