The Women in Government (WIG) project, which is part of the promote program, on Monday launched an e-Learning video called “Professionalism in the Workplace” to fight harassment against women in the workplace. 

Promote project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) which aims to promote Afghan women’s role in government departments. 

Promote said in a statement on Monday the video can be used as a tool for promoting gender equality, professional communication and anti-harassment. 

“The video will serve as a standard training tool for government workers who are responsible for workplace gender equality, professional communication, and anti-harassment,” read the statement. 

According to the statement, WIG project has trained over 3,000 women to serve in government to contribute to Afghan government’s larger efforts to increase women’s participation in the civil service by 30 percent. 

Research has been conducted by the WIG project to identify and mitigate the obstacles that prevent women from joining civil services, read the statement. The e-learning video is aimed to tackle these challenges. 

“The e-Learning video will target these obstacles and seek to overcome them through training and awareness,” the statement said. 

WIG officials said the video has been produced in close cooperation with the Afghan Ministry of Education to build a culture of professionalism and anti-harassment in the workplace against women. 

The e-Learning video is based on a standard WIG training curriculum and the project has been delivered to more than 200 current civil service employees to build a culture of professionalism and anti-harassment, read the statement. 

According to the statement, more than 35 government representatives have committed to use the video in their ministries and at independent agencies. 

Spozhmai Wardak, the deputy minister of women’s affairs who has committed to using the video at the ministry said professionalism and awareness raising can play a good role in fighting harassment. 

“The Professionalism in the Workplace training has been very effective. We decided to convert it into a video so that it can reach all of our employees. We cannot be effective and influential only through punishment. We can be more effective through awareness raising. I hope this video is used in all GIROA organizations,” said Wardak. 

Promote program is comprised of four activities that are implemented specifically for Afghan women. The activities include leadership in development, government employment, economic participation and civil society advocacy. 

So far, Promote has supported over 50,000 Afghan women in more than 30 provinces nationwide, said the statement.