June 2017—Getting a job in the Afghan civil service is not an easy thing to do, especially for women with no professional experience. But the situation is changing.

Somia Rashidi* and Fahima Akbary are among those who recently landed jobs in government thanks to USAID’s Promote: Women in Government program, which aims to train women for government jobs that will eventually lead to decision-making roles.

“The internship program was very useful and was instrumental for us to get permanent full-time jobs with the Supreme Court. Out of 700 applicants, the two of us were very lucky to have been among those offered jobs,” the women wrote in a letter to the project.

Gul Pari, another internship graduate, bested 35 applicants and will assume a permanent post at the Independent Directorate for Local Governance.

Still another graduate, Bilqis Khan, said the internship gave her headway toward her ideal career path. After completing the internship in August 2016, she was immediately hired by the Ministry of Finance. “The USAID Promote: Women in Government internship program laid out a clear career path for me,” she said.

“In May 2017, I am going to India for a training in strategic planning,” Rashidi told the project team. She added that her readiness for government work got her hired and also qualified her for the international training, which she hopes will be the first of many.

The USAID program offers a 12-month intensive training for young female university and high school graduates for professional jobs in the government. The training takes the women through all facets of civil service work for six months, trains them for leadership in another three months, and immerses them in hands-on office work in various government offices in their final three months with the program. After completing all the program requirements, the women receive a work certificate equivalent to one year of professional experience. More importantly, the women are ready to work for any department in the government once they graduate.

As of April 2017, the project has graduated 118 women, 32 of whom are now employed, while an additional 27 are completing the hiring process in various agencies. The program, which runs from 2015 to 2020, is currently training 1,600 women in Kabul, Herat, Balkh and Kandahar, with plans to expand to Nangarhar.

*All names have been changed to protect identities.

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