Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Empowering Rural Women to Root Out Poverty in Afghanistan

Empowering Rural Women to Root Out Poverty in Afghanistan

KABUL - While out in the field, we have seen that women are badly affected by poverty in rural areas and the value of the services they provide at home are often overlooked.
Traditional norms have made it difficult for rural women to get a loan, start a business, and access financial information that can influence the way they earn, budget, and spend money.
Yet, women who are empowered and given the opportunity to develop economically have shown significant contributions to the growth and development of their community as well as the larger society. These women have established thriving business systems and reduce household poverty especially in rural areas.
Although urban centers, like Kabul, continue to grow and thrive in post-conflict Afghanistan, poverty is on the rise. Poverty in Afghanistan increased from 38.3 percent in 2012 to 54.5 percent in 2017, according to the Afghanistan Living Conditions Survey by the National Statistics and Information Authority.
This is due to rural areas struggling to compete in the modern market. As a national push for development, the Afghan government has taken steps to engage rural areas where growth is stagnant according to poverty statistics.
In response to the growing poverty of rural women, the Government of Afghanistan launched the Women’s Economic Empowerment – Rural Development Project (WEE-RDP) in October 2018. Operated under the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD), the project is a national program that empowers rural women by helping them to mobilize into self-help groups (SHGs), open small businesses, and access financial services.
Before rolling out any project in the rural areas, we asked ourselves what areas we needed to invest in that can help alleviate poverty. Increasing women’s participation in the local economy and linking women producers with regional and national markets are lined up as key potential targets for WEE-RDP to achieve. With support from the project, rural women will create savings and credit groups that will help them start and expand their businesses and enter new markets.
Potential rural businesswomen are expected to create income-generating opportunities in Afghan villages that will benefit more than half a million rural people .
Since its inception, WEE-RDP has started to work in over 25 provinces and received a warm welcome from local government entities, people's representatives, women, and the media. With 1,500 SHGs already established across the country, the project is building women's capacity in financial and business management, bookkeeping, and enterprise development. (WorldBang Blog)