Int’l community make demands but do not help, Muttaqi says at labor conference

The international community wants the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to fight drugs and terrorism, but it does not provide assistance, acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said at a national labor conference in Kabul on Tuesday.

“The international community asks us questions and also has demands. They ask what happened to the drugs? How to stop it? How to ensure security? How to prevent improper use of Afghan soil? These are their demands, but there is zero assistance,” Muttaqi said.

Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs Mawlawi Abdul Kabir called for sanctions against the Islamic Emirate leaders and the banking system to be lifted.

“I ask the countries to end the illegal and unfair sanctions against the oppressed people and the leaders of the Islamic Emirate and to give the Islamic Emirate a reassuring hand of cooperation as an active member of the international community,” Kabir said.

Meanwhile, Acting Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Abdulmanan Omari said that the purpose of holding the conference is to fight poverty and unemployment in the country.

“Our biggest and most important purpose of holding the national labor conference is to develop the labor market according to the needs of the time, so as to provide suitable and significant job opportunities on the one hand, and on the other hand, effectively fight against unemployment across the country,” Omari said.

In the conference, it was also stated that in the next five years, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, in cooperation with the private sector, will provide jobs for 500,000 people.

“We have to fund an area that will really create jobs. We should fund an area which the people really need. We have to fund an area which the people are most in need,” acting Minister of Industry and Commerce Nooruddin Azizi said.

Acting Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Ataullah Omari also emphasized the need for standardization of this sector.

“The Ministry of Agriculture is trying to make its agriculture and farming standardized. With the standardization of agriculture and animal husbandry, jobs will be provided for 70% of our people,” he said.

Some representatives of international organizations said at the conference that job creation can contribute to people’s living standards.

Ramin Behzad, the Senior Coordinator of the International Labour Organization (ILO) for Afghanistan, said that poverty will be reduced with provision of job opportunities.

He reassured delegates that ILO will continue to cooperate with Afghanistan in this regard.

A number of other participants also emphasized in the meeting that there should be a focus on infrastructure and development projects in order to provide job opportunities.