The US Agency for International Development’s Country Director for Afghanistan, Sean Callahan, said that women must be allowed to work and earn a livng.

“We can’t move our development goals forward when more than ½ the population is left behind,” Callahan said on Twitter. "USAID is proud to partner with Roots of Peace (organization) to support women entrepreneurs in Afghanistan with training and critical resources.”

Meanwhile, Afghan women also urged international organizations to provide them with support.

Iqra used to work in a private company, but she become jobless after the Islamic Emirate announced a ban on female workers at NGOs.

Iqra called on the Islamic Emirate to provide her with a job, saying she is facing a dire economic situation.

“Many women who are breadwinners for their families want to go back to work and make ends meet for their children. So we call on the Islamic Emirate to facilitate work for us,” she said.

The head of the union for the women’s agriculture sector, Mumtaz Yousufzai, said that women entrepreneurs need support to improve their business.

“If the private sector is being supported, it can both create jobs and can play an important role in the country’s economy,” she said.

This comes as the Ministry of Industry and Mines said essential opportunities have been laid out for women entrepreneurs by the Islamic Emirate.

A spokesman for the MoIC, Abdul Salam Jawad, said that at least 600 licenses have been distributed for women entrepreneurs in Afghanistan.

“Since the beginning of the Islamic Emirate, around 600 licenses have been distributed to the women entrepreneurs. The chamber of women includes 560, and more than 8,000 women are working in the private sector and commerce,” Jawad said.

Based on the figures of the MoIC, women entrepreneurs are working in handicrafts, agriculture, health services, heavy industry and mining.