Projects worth $165m being executed nationwide

KABUL (Pajhwok): Various projects worth $165 million are being executed in 22 provinces of the country under the National Charter and Employment Program, the Presidential Palace said on Wednesday.

The Presidential Palace in a statement said that contracts for the projects were signed between Shamim Khan Katawazi, head of the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG), ACTED organization and Afghanistan National Re-Construction Co-ordination (ANCC) during a meeting in presence of President Ashraf Ghani.

IDLG head, Shamim Khan Katawazai said that the contracts for extending National Charter Program to 10 provinces of the country and creation of jobs in 12 other provinces were signed with the mentioned organizations.

He said different projects worth $45 million under the National Charter Program would be implemented in Helmand, Ghazni, Farah, Parwan, Jawzjan, Badakhshan, Paktia, Logar, Nimroz and Balkh provinces.

The second part of these projects including employment would be implemented in Nangarhar, Laghman, Kunar, Nuristan, Herat, Ghor, Takhar, Kunduz, Baghlan, Khost, Kandahar and Faryab provinces, he said.

He added that the employment projects would cost $120 million and they would be implemented in a period of four years. This program would help 120,000 people get sustainable jobs and it would be extended to other 10 cities with limited developments, he added.

President Ashraf Ghani, talking to the meeting, said that the economic situation of those affected by coronavirus and poverty would get improved with implementation of the mentioned programs.

“These work opportunities could have been created in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. I want the government and international partners to create jobs for the 21^st century, because the definition of work has changed, these activities are no longer effective with digitalization of the world,” he said.

‘In terms of productivity, we have limited workers and the key demand is creation of enterprise, Afghans have shown more productivity where there is more order…” he said.

He stressed the need for extension of National Charter Program and the need for creation of urban-village network that can connect villages with cities and help Afghanistan become self-sufficient in terms of different products.

Ghani said connectivity of urban areas with rural areas had weakened over the past 10 years and the current program should be utilized for creating more jobs and enterprises.

Mds/ma