Afghan businesswomen carry on amid challenges

KABUL (TOLOnews): Many Afghan women are self-employed in villages across the country to support themselves and their families, but they lack sufficient income to meet their needs, say Afghan women who participated in a conference titled ‘Afghan Women’s Role in the Economy and Investment’ on Saturday in Kabul.

Participants complained that limited pay and a lack of support by the government are the major challenges they face. “Attention is never paid to those women who are working in their homes, but their products sell well at the market,” said Fatema, a member of the Afghanistan Youth Leaders Assembly.

Women in the conference say they unofficially play a vital role in the country’s economy with hand-made crafts, but they make only a small profit.

“Those women who make handicrafts, hand-made rugs and other crafts in rural areas of the country play a key role in the country’s economy but, unfortunately, they are ignored,” said Mursal Ebadi, Kabul resident.

Zahra Kainat, another resident in Kabul said: “Those women who work behind the scenes like those working beside their husbands on farms or involved in other work, are not deemed important in the society,”

Afghan businesswomen, despite investing great effort in their work, still enduring severe challenges as they move forward.