The Mercy Corps, an international non-governmental organization, has created a program to train and provide employment opportunities for 1,600 men and women in the provinces of Herat and Kandahar in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. 

Officials said that nearly three million dollars have been allocated for this program, and the purpose of this program is to raise the capacity of the workforce and provide job opportunities to Afghan men and women. 

They will begin working in the market after completing a six-month training program, according to the officials. 

“There are 1,600 students in this program, 800 in Herat province and 800 in Kandahar. There are 13 classes in Herat and 13 in Kandahar, and 27 hundred thousand dollars are allocated for this program,” said Minister of Labor Abdul Wali Haris.  

“We also implement three of four other projects throughout Herat, Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif, one of them is a large program, multi-year ... we are a consortium doing agricultural for livelihoods, clean water…,” said Jack Byrne, head of the Mercy Corps in Afghanistan. 

Most of the participants of this program in Herat and Kandahar are women and girls. 

“Our economic situation is very bad, I want to learn in order to find a piece of bread for our children. I have five daughters and my husband is sick,” said Shikeba, a participant.  

Some of the program's participants called for the creation of jobs in Afghanistan to prevent Afghan youth from seeking employment in neighboring nations. 

“I’m very happy that such an opportunity has been provided for the youth, I hope we can use it in a good way,” Mustafa, a participant of the program told TOLOnews. 

For many years youth in the country have struggled with unemployment, but the recent economic crisis has caused many people to lose their jobs.