Promote: Women in the Economy Quarterly Report Q3 FY 2018 (April – June 2018)

The program, which began on July 1, 2015, and is set to conclude on June 30, 2019, has a primary objective of improving the status of Afghan women and accelerating inclusive, sustainable development and social progress in Afghanistan. Women in the Economy (WIE) is a task order under Promote, focusing on both private sector and workforce development. The program provides thousands of women with the skills, voice, and resources to contribute to Afghanistan's economic development and poverty reduction goals. WIE assists women-owned businesses and businesses that hire at least 30 percent women to perform better, increasing the income growth and sustainability of these businesses. Key activities under WIE include providing technical assistance, industry-specific business skills training, and improved access to finance and markets to leverage growth in the private sector. The program also supports female jobseekers by offering career counseling, workplace skills development, and technical skills training based on market demand. Additionally, WIE supports internships, apprenticeships, and job placement services that give women the opportunity to gain work experience, prove their capabilities to employers, and secure new or better positions. The program is based in five regional economic zones across Afghanistan, with offices in Kabul, Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif, Jalalabad, and Kandahar. WIE has projected achievements, including 20 percent of Promote-supported businesses moving to the next level of enterprise size, 50 percent or more of all Promote-supported businesses increasing revenues by more than 40 percent within two years after assistance, and 21,000 women receiving new or better employment. During the third quarter of year three, WIE accelerated activities and continued to focus programming efforts on the most high-impact activities for supporting women's economic empowerment. The program's efforts were concentrated on the private sector development component, which aimed to increase the income growth and sustainability of women-owned businesses and businesses that hire at least 30 percent women. WIE also continued to support female jobseekers through career counseling, workplace skills development, and technical skills training. The private sector development component of WIE focused on providing technical assistance, industry-specific business skills training, and improved access to finance and markets to leverage growth in the private sector. The program also supported the development of gender-sensitive policies, regulations, or reforms to assist women in the economy. WIE's efforts were concentrated in five regional economic zones across Afghanistan, with offices in Kabul, Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif, Jalalabad, and Kandahar. The program's progress was monitored through various indicators, including the number of women receiving new or better employment, the number of women participating in activity-supported apprenticeships or internships, and the number of gender-sensitive policies, regulations, or reforms developed. WIE's projected achievements were also tracked, including the percentage of Promote-supported businesses moving to the next level of enterprise size and the percentage of all Promote-supported businesses increasing revenues by more than 40 percent within two years after assistance.