Hand in Hand Afghanistan officially inaugurated the implementation of Households Adopt Sustainable Economic Livelihoods and Village Uplift Program – Shahrak Sayed Abad. In this event, the deputy governor of Balkh province, Head Labour and Social Affairs, Head of Economy, Head of Women’s Affairs, Head of Agriculture, Head of Trade and Industry departments of Balkh province, district governor of Sholgara and Nahre Shahi districts, community leaders and non-governmental organizations participated.
Hand in hand Afghanistan presented the objectives of the two new projects and updates on the ongoing projects which was followed by speech from Mr. Mohammad Bashir Tawhidi – the deputy governor of Balkh province, Mr. Matiullah Matin – Director of Balkh department of Labour and Social Affairs, Ms. Shahla Hadid – Director of Balkh Women’s Affairs department, Mr. Janat Gul Sharafat – Director of Balkh Economy department and Ms. Hafiza Merzaye – CAFOD representative in Afghanistan who talked about the importance of the work Hand in Hand Afghanistan is doing and thanked the organization for its support to the poor and marginalized people specially women.
The Households Adopt Sustainable Economic Livelihoods project started in September 2019 to socially and economically empower 500 women in Wali Asr area of Mazar-e-Sharif city by August 2022.
The Village Uplift Project in Shahrak Sayed Abad will start in January 2020 to socially and economically empower 110 women in Shahrak Sayed Abad village of Mazar-e-Sharif through creation of microenterprises and jobs.
This event also marked the conclusion of the below four projects:
- Promoting Women’s Socio-Economic Empowerment through Layer Poultry Farming (Jan – Jun 2019)
- Village Uplift Program in Shah Rahim village (Jan 2018 – Dec 2019)
- Village Uplift Program in Faqir Abad village of Mazar-e-Sharif (Jul 2017 – Jun 2019)
- Socio-Economic Empowerment of Women and Men in Chimtal District (Jan 2017 – Dec 2019)
One of the project beneficiaries from Shahrak Ulia village named Aqila, spoke about her experience of the project which enabled her to start earning and continue her higher education with her own income. She on behalf of the entire project beneficiaries thanked Hand in Hand Afghanistan and its donors for implementing the women empowerment project in their area.
HiH Af had also organized an exhibition to showcase the products of the project beneficiaries at the end of the event and they sold different types of products to the visitors.