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KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan and ISAF officials attended a foundation stone-laying ceremony for a new women's business center, March 7, in Herat province.
The new $270,000 center will have four levels with a total area of about 5,489 square feet. The centre will have a total of 36 stores, a conference room, and space for recreational activities and gymnastics on the top floor.
The centre was donated by the Italian Ministry of Defence and is in cooperation with the Department for Women Affairs, which supports the establishment of a business area dedicated to female entrepreneurship. This will further the role of women as entrepreneurs in the Herat province.
The Italian Cooperation for Development of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will supply all furniture and necessary equipment for the centre as well as launch a microcredit project, which is an economic tool for development that will provide affected families access to financial services and, in particular, to women.
"Through this project we will provide financial support for the initiation of individual businesses and boost their natural development," said Brig. Gen. Alessandro Veltri, Regional Command-West commander. "It will also promote the presence of female personnel into the local entrepreneurial system promoting a role of women as a central element and factor of progress in Afghan society."
Those attending the ceremony included Asiludim Jani, vice governor of Herat province; Salim Trak, mayor of the city; Manija Sadiqu, Department for Women Affairs chief; Col. Claudio Dei, Italian Provincial Reconstruction Team chief; Dr. Marco Urago, Italian Cooperation for Development of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs executive; along with several other province authorities and Nazifa Noor Ahmed, an 8-year-old girl who recently returned to Afghanistan after spending 19 months at the General Hospital "S. Orsola-Malpighi" in Bologna where she was treated for Hodgkin's lymphoma.
| Date Taken: | 03.08.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 03.08.2010 10:16 |
| Story ID: | 46328 |
| Location: | KABUL, AF |
| Web Views: | 147 |
| Downloads: | 133 |
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