SHARANA (PAN): Paktika Women’s Affairs Director Dr. Bibi Hawa Khoshiwal on Wednesday claimed efforts at empowering women in the southeastern province lacked support from the provincial reconstruction team (PRT) and aid agencies.
During an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, Khoshiwal claimed no practical step could be initiated to improve women’s situation and demands in this regard were rejected by the PRT and NGOs.
As a result of the gross negligence, she said no vocation training programme for destitute women could be launched this solar year that begins on March 21.
She said the Ministry of Women’s Affairs lacked sufficient funds to arrange workshops and training courses in diverse fields for females.
Last year, she said 500 women attended a tailoring course in the provincial capital and the Yousafkhel district. The governor’s house funded the course, she said, asking aid agencies and NGOs to equally treat provinces.
On violence against women, Khoshiwal said a dozen incidents of violent acts took place last year in Paktika. The incidents involved domestic violence and suicide attempts.
She said the incidents of violence against the gender in Paktika were less in number compared to those in other provinces as no woman had been killed so far this year.
However, she said they were concerned about forced marriages and giving girls to settle disputes in some parts.
A tribal elder in Sharan, Abdul Rahman, also said girls in Paktika continued to be subjected to forced marriages and used as scapegoats in tribal disputes’ resolution.
“Because ours is an Islamic and Pashtun society, girls have to accept whatever their elders decide,” he concluded.
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