Photo By Michael Glasch | From left, Maj. Gen. Richard Kaiser, commander, Combined Security...... read more read more
CAMP SHAHEEN, AFGHANISTAN -- The cornerstone facility of a project designed to attract more Afghan women to join the ranks of the Afghan National Defense Security Forces (ANDSF) was turned over at Camp Shaheen, just outside of Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Mar. 8.
The new barracks and daycare facility compounds are the first permanent facilities to be completed for the Women’s Participation Program (WPP), an initiative being driven by Afghanistan’s first lady. The ribbon-cutting coincided with International Women’s Day.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Transatlantic Afghanistan District (USACE-TAA) started construction on the $1.4 million facility in December 2015. The two-story barracks can house up to 54 women as they train to become Soldiers in the ANA. USACE-TAA’s commander said that while the barracks and daycare are not the most complicated facilities the Corps has built in Afghanistan, the buildings symbolize a great accomplishment.
“They represent opportunity and economic prosperity for Afghanistan, and the spirit of a people with great potential, the Afghan people,” said Col. Jon Chytka. “I remember when I was here in 2010, almost all of our prime contractors were international companies. Now fast forward to 2017, and more than 96 percent of our lead contractors are Afghan firms,” he said. “We have so many capable Afghan firms that we (USACE) have recently been able to create an Afghan First program allowing us to limit competition for work to only Afghan firms, truly amazing.”
Chytka went on to praise the strides the Afghan construction industry has made in recent years. He cited how nine different Afghan sub-contractors provided material for the construction and outfitting of the barracks and daycare, with 75 percent of those materials and products produced in Afghanistan.
“This is a great example of Afghan companies putting Afghans to work, putting bread on their family’s table and hope in their hearts,” he said.
The Afghan government has a goal to increase the number of women serving within the ANDSF (ANA and Afghan National Police (ANP)), to ten percent of the total force. The man in charge of helping develop the Afghan security forces said building new facilities is not the end solution to that objective, but rather it is the first stepping stone.
“Brick, mortar and windows alone do not make a strong Army,” said Maj. Gen. Richard Kaiser, commander, Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan. “It is the people who live and serve in buildings like this that make an Army strong.”
The cultural practices in Afghanistan often keep men and women from being able to intermingle. The plan of the WPP is to build separate, safe and secure, walled-off living facilities for women to make becoming members of the ANDSF more appealing to female Afghans and their families.
“The facilities here for the women are just fantastic,” said Australian Col. Bronwyn Wheeler, gender advisor, CSTC-A. “It gives them somewhere that is secure, and is safe, and they are able to support each other while they are doing their training in a facility that provides everything for them.
“I think that compounds like this provides good reassurance for families whose daughters want to go off and join the military,” Wheeler added. “I think knowing they are coming to a facility like this where their daughters are going to be safe while training to serve their country is a great reassurance for them, and I think it provides them with a little more hope that their daughters will do well.”
Being able to recruit large numbers of females is critical to the future success of the ANDSF. The Afghan Army is currently authorized 195,000 Soldiers, but only has 170,000 within its ranks.
“Women are important to the strategy of the entire Army,” said Kaiser. “All they want to be is part of the team, with mutual respect as a Soldier.”
Kaiser went on to warn ANA leaders that if they don’t embrace the WPP, it is the Army as a whole that will suffer.
“They (Afghan women) are capable, they are competent and they are qualified to serve in so many areas. If the Army ignores the contributions that women can give, you will lose them,” he said. “They will be hired be someone else, and they will show you just how competent, how capable, how professional they are.”
USACE-TAA currently has 22 additional projects totaling more than $86 million under contract for the WPP throughout Afghanistan. Those projects include a $5.9 million ANP academy female staff college that will be able to train 300 women at a time, and Police Town, an entire complex that will include family housing, a primary school and a clinic.
| Date Taken: | 03.09.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 04.12.2017 10:20 |
| Story ID: | 230090 |
| Location: | AF |
| Web Views: | 310 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Shaheen WPP facility sets stage for more women in ANDSF, by Michael Glasch, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
