Envoy lauds women’s role in reconstruction

KABUL: Afghanistan Ambassador to the United States Said T Jawad has said that education is the best tool of empowering women in the society.

He was a delivering speech at Thunderbird University where 15 Afghan businesswomen graduated from Project Artemis, an intensive two-week fellowship focusing on entrepreneurial training, coaching, mentoring and access to resources.

A press release received to Pajhwok Afghan News said the participants would return to Afghanistan to expand their own business operations and assist other entrepreneurs.

"This multiplier effect shows us that education is the best tool of empowering women in any society, particularly in war-torn countries such as Afghanistan where the future of our country rests on women, said the Ambassador in his remarks.

He explained that throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Afghan women played a crucial role in the society, but two decades of war and destruction resulted in their economic, political and social marginalisation.

"Despite their victimisation by the Taliban, women have played a vital role in Afghanistan’s reconstruction since 2001. Women were elected to 68 seats in the lower house of the country’s parliament," he said.