Client: U.S. Agency for International Development
Duration: 2015-2020
Region: Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Country: Afghanistan
Solutions: Economic Growth Governance
The U.S Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Promote: Women in the Economy (WIE) program, now in its second year, is bolstering women’s inclusion in Afghanistan’s economy and working to ensure that progress made by Afghan women over the past decade endures and advances.
With its focus on both private sector and workforce development, WIE is based in five economic zones across the country and works across 30 Afghan provinces. WIE assists women-owned businesses and businesses that employ at least 10 percent women to perform better, increasing the income growth and sustainability of these businesses. The program provides technical assistance, industry-specific business skills training, and improved access to markets to leverage growth in the private sector.
To help female jobseekers, WIE supports educated women the ages of 18 to 30 in finding new or better jobs through career counseling, workplace skills development, and technical skills training based on market demand. This is done by partnering with local educational, vocational, and technical training providers to deliver services, and by funding scholarships for training and certification programs. The project also supports internships, apprenticeships, and job placement services that give women the opportunity to gain work experience, prove their capabilities to employers, and secure new or better positions. WIE also incentivizes companies to improve workplace environments for women.
Consortium partners include Afghan firms Afghanistan Holding Group, Afghanistan Center for Excellence, Afghanistan Microfinance Association, Rumi Consultancy, and RSI Consulting (M&E), as well as the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University.
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