Jobs and security are top priorities for Afghanistan

02 February 2010

Creating jobs and building trust in the Afghan National Police were among key issues raised at a meeting between International Development Minister Mike Foster and a group of Afghan MPs.

The meeting, with four Afghan MPs and other government staff, took place last Thursday on the day of London’s Afghanistan Conference and covered a range of issues close to Afghans’ hearts, how to boost the economy, improve national security, human rights and relations with neighbouring countries.

The MPs highlighted that reducing unemployment was a priority. This ties in with results of recent surveys, in which ordinary Afghans said that their main concerns are improving security on the ground and finding job opportunities to improve their lives.

International efforts should therefore focus on job creation, more education opportunities and providing opportunities for women to participate in the job market.

DFID is supporting two major programmes to stimulate the private sector in Afghanistan, with over £60 million up to 2012/13:

• Harakat, an independent Afghan organisation dedicated to making Afghanistan a better place in which to conduct business by removing unnecessary bureaucracy and other obstacles to investment; and
• The Supporting Employment and Enterprise Development (SEED) programme, which helps Afghan businesses develop innovative ideas and helps the Afghan government to support business in a sustainable way.  It is anticipated that SEED will create over 20,000 jobs and boost incomes for 200,000 Afghans.

The MPs said that support for local councils would help advance women’s rights and other opportunities for Afghans to participate more in society.

During his visit to Afghanistan in December, the Secretary of State for International Development, Douglas Alexander, announced a £23 million package to the Afghan Government to support good governance initiatives at the provincial and district levels.

This is to improve capacity, accountability, service delivery and coordination between local government bodies.