KABUL (SW) – The increase of women hawkers on the roads of Kabul is a proof of the crippling economic situation and the rising level of unemployment in the country.
A number of women working on roadside in Kabul told Salam Watandar that the increase in unemployment, poverty and lack of guardians forced them to come out in search of a livelihood.
Masouma, a lady who sells masks on the side of one of the roads in Kabul city, said that in order to get rid of this situation, she went to work at Kabul Municipality and other offices several times, but she did not get jobs there. She added that she earns 100 to 150 afghanis a day through, with which she can hardly cover the basic needs of her children.
Masoumeh said: “I came out of necessity. I only manage to buy dry bread and take it to my children. I don’t have a breadwinner. I ask the support organizations to help. Right now, if they give me a job position even for 5000 as a living wage, I will work. I work as a cleaner, I went to the municipality several times, as a cleaner, they did not hire me.”
Leilma is another lady who sells mineral water on the streets. She said that by selling each bottle of water, she earns two afghanis and with the money she earns from selling water, she provides for her family’s needs.
“We have not paid our rent for three months. I have been selling water for two years. One of my children is malnourished due to hunger. No help has been given to us, I have no man in my house. I sit from morning to evening on the streets, no one buys water from me.”
These women ask the government to save them from this situation by providing them with jobs.
Meanwhile, a number of women’s rights activists say that the government can help by creating a suitable work environment for women.
Hasna Raofi, a women’s rights activist, said: “One of the measures that the government can take is to provide the environment for work. If the work environment is available, neither women peddlers nor child peddlers will remain on the roads.”
However, Nematullah Barakzai, the spokesperson of Kabul Municipality, says that they have acted according to the decision of the cabinet to discipline the peddlers.
He added: “For us, gender is not an issue, we have done all the legal things in their regulation with all the sellers. The city of Kabul must be an orderly city, and Kabul Municipality has carried out the necessary activities in accordance with the decisions of the cabinet in the area of regulating peddlers.”
According to Samiullah Ebrahimi, the director of publications of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, the ministry will launch a technical and professional training program in the near future in order to create a work environment for women peddlers.
He added: “The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs collects those women who are hawkers on the streets, through a committee, and this ministry has programs [on hand] through which technical and professional lessons are taught to them, and by adapting that way, these women will be saved from poverty and destitution.”
ENDS
