Deputy Minister of Economy Abdul Latif Nazari says a plan is being drawn up for women to return to work and that the current restrictions on women in the workplace are not necessarily permanent. 

Speaking on Sunday in Kabul at an IEA government accountability program to the nation, Nazari said: “Fourteen thousand women work in the health sector,… there are women at the airport, there are women in banks,” said Nazari. 

“But there is an effort to pay attention to a procedure that is acceptable to the Islamic Emirate system and that both the demands of our people are taken into consideration and that we can enter into a serious interaction with the international community based on Islamic values and our national interests,” he added. 

In addition, Nazari emphasized that as part of the Islamic Emirate’s policy, efforts are being made to use the country’s internal capacities for economic growth and development and to rely less on foreign aid.

“We want to use the domestic and indigenous capacities of the country; we want to get help from the potential that Afghanistan has within itself,” Nazari said.

According to officials from the ministry, they have put in place a system for non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and going forward, organizations will not be allowed free reign over their projects but will have to abide by requirements set out by the IEA. 

The ministry meanwhile stressed that in the past year, the IEA’s efforts focused mainly on preventing an economic collapse but that this year, greater efforts are being made to increase economic growth and development.