The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has recently announced that around 90 percent of the spinners and weavers in Afghanistan’s carpet-weaving industry are women and girls.
In a post on its Facebook account, UNAMA wrote that despite the extensive contribution of women and girls to Afghanistan’s carpet industry, they remain at the lowest level of the production chain and receive very low wages in return for their hard labor.
Susan Ferguson, the Special Representative of UN Women in Afghanistan, emphasized that women and girls must be supported at all stages of carpet production—from wool production and spinning to weaving, finishing, and business development.
UNAMA added that UN Women is committed to strengthening women’s leadership to create opportunities for them to benefit from the significant cultural and economic value they generate.
The mission also stressed that Afghanistan’s carpet industry has survived primarily thanks to the efforts, skills, and resilience of women.
It is worth noting that carpet weaving is one of Afghanistan’s most important handicraft industries and export commodities—an industry in which women and girls play a vital role at every stage of production. Over the past four years, amid widespread restrictions on girls’ education and women’s employment, many women have been forced to turn to this sector to earn a livelihood.
It should be noted that after taking control of Afghanistan, the current authorities deprived women and girls of education and schooling. More recently, they also closed medical institutes to women and girls, despite the fact that the healthcare sector across Afghanistan is facing a severe shortage of personnel.
These actions by the current authorities have resulted in millions of school-age girls being deprived of education.
In addition, women have been barred from attending sports clubs, restaurants, public bathhouses, being examined by male doctors, traveling without a male guardian (mahram), and working in domestic and international non-governmental organizations, as well as even in United Nations offices in Afghanistan.
