From War to Work: Building Jobs, Stability, and Self-Reliance

(Speech at the Launch of the National Employment Program)

Keypoints: 

• National Employment Program: A nationwide plan to create jobs immediately.
• Rural Development: Support for farmers, irrigation, and village roads.
• Urban Jobs: Employment in city cleaning and public services.
• Affordable Housing: Construction of low-cost homes.
• More Electricity: Doubling power production.
• New Dams: Building dams for water and jobs.
• Youth Employment: Opportunities for skilled young people.
• Economic Self-Reliance: Reducing dependence on foreign aid.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Distinguished brothers and sisters, honored guests, good afternoon!

The Security Pretext and National Resilience

We have all traversed difficult months during this past year. Those who used the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan as a pretext for war only intensified their violence as the pace of the withdrawal of those forces accelerated. They imagined that Afghanistan would be destroyed; however, as history has proven, it is those who dream of the destruction and defeat of Afghanistan who are themselves destined for ruin.

Regardless, even though the enemies of Afghanistan failed—and will continue to fail—in their ultimate objectives, they succeeded in increasing security challenges and shedding the blood of thousands of our compatriots. The most recent examples are the martyrdom of Shukria in Zabul and Torpekay in Kandahar.

However, our people, through their collective civil movement "last week," demonstrated their hatred and loathing of violence, terror, and those who ruthlessly target our citizens. The world witnessed that there is a distance as vast as that between the earth and the sky between the absolute majority of this nation—who crave peace and tranquility—and a tiny fringe who are either deceived by foreigners and serve their interests, or are themselves foreigners in this land, hired to terrorize our people.

The Economic Crisis: Beyond the Battlefield

Of course, war and insecurity are not our only major problems. Our other significant crisis is economic hardship, specifically the lack of employment for our youth. When 130,000 foreign troops were present here, they maintained 400,000 foreign and domestic contractors for their logistics and other affairs, which resulted in well-paying jobs for hundreds of thousands of people. With the departure of those foreign troops, not only did those individuals become unemployed, but economic difficulties also arose for the many people who found a morsel of bread for themselves thanks to the earnings of those contractors.

With the departure of foreign soldiers, the foreign financial expenditures associated with military activities were naturally restricted. The countries whose soldiers were in Afghanistan previously spent vast amounts of money in our country; when their soldiers left, that money left with them. As you know, with the tightening of financial resources that began two years ago, sufficient funds did not exist for certain institutions to continue their work; for this reason, currently, not even half of the NGOs and other organizations are active in the country. The intensification of war and the reduction of foreign aid have had a negative impact on Afghanistan's economy and employment opportunities. This impact is felt most by those of our compatriots who are unemployed and wait daily in city squares, hoping for someone to find them and take them for work so they can find a morsel of bread for their families.

Strategic Reforms and Restoring Trust

My primary effort in the economic sphere over the past year was to restore the trust of donor nations and to repair the country's relations with international partners, which had grown severely cold. Fortunately, I have succeeded in this area to a certain extent.

At the same time, we worked on major tasks that would reduce the country's economic dependence on foreign aid in the long term, and we undertook continuous economic reforms, including savings in government expenditures. In addition, we have been mindful of those compatriots who are currently unemployed and whose children want bread.

Launching the National Job Creation Program for Peace

To confront this problem, we have prepared a sum of money from various national and aid sources to design and practically inaugurate the "National Job Creation Program for Peace" today. The primary goal of the National Job Creation Program is to create new opportunities for work and employment for the people. Efforts are being made within the framework of this national program to create work for both urban and rural residents.

• In the villages: We want to provide financial assistance to farmers to increase the yields of orchards and fields, improve irrigation systems, and modernize agriculture. We can multiply our harvests several times over, but a major obstacle to achieving this goal is that our farmers lack the money to pay for hiring labor for their orchards and fields. One objective of the National Labor Program is to provide funds to these farmers so they can use them for the improvement of agriculture, horticulture, and irrigation. In this way, harvests will increase and new job opportunities will be created in the villages.

• Infrastructure: Building roads in rural areas is another part of the National Labor Program, which, God willing, begins today. In the first phase, 4,700 villages will be covered, and by spring, up to 15,000 villages will be included.

Urban Renewal and Housing

A major goal of the National Job Creation Program in the cities is that a large number of our compatriots will be hired for city cleaning. Our major cities, unfortunately, having an unclean environment, are the cause of many diseases; this situation is intolerable. It is planned that thousands of people will be employed to clean and sanitize the cities.

Fortunately, in recent years, many of our youth have learned various trades and professions. The National Job Creation Program will provide employment opportunities for a portion of them as well. Furthermore, as I had promised, preliminary work on housing and urban development has begun. The goal is to build nearly one hundred thousand affordable houses, for which we are in negotiations with various sources to secure financing. As a result of these efforts, our friend, China, agreed to pay for the labor and construction of ten thousand houses. Work on this major national project is currently beginning and being implemented, which will provide employment for thousands of people.

The National Labor Program is for all regions of Afghanistan. Just as we do not accept discrimination between the city and the village, we do not consider any region superior to another, and based on the principle of Balanced Development, we pay equal attention to all.

This program begins at this very moment. Of course, due to the cold weather, some activities in cold regions will be delayed until spring, and in warm regions where security problems are greater, some activities will be delayed until security improves; but overall, the National Labor Program has begun from this moment.

The Pillar of Energy: Doubling Production

It must be made clear that for a fundamental solution to economic problems, we need fundamental reformative actions, upon which work is ongoing. For example, I want to explain a little about the progress regarding electricity and the works currently in hand.

Providing electricity is a vital matter for economic development and job creation. By autumn of next year, electricity production in Afghanistan will double. At present, we produce 231 megawatts of electricity from our own domestic facilities and water resources; but with God’s success, by this time next year, this amount will increase up to twofold and we will produce another 240 megawatts. Technical studies for this section have been completed, and preliminary work on these electricity production projects—which in some cases are carried out in cooperation with the private sector—has also begun. Now the time for implementation has arrived. With the completion of its first phase over the course of one year:

• 100 megawatts of solar energy,

• 100 megawatts of thermal power from our own country's natural gas resources,

• and 42 megawatts from the Salma Dam will be added to the country's total electricity production.

Furthermore, within the next twelve months, 17 water dams will be built in 17 provinces, the budget for which we have identified to some extent from various channels, and work is intensely ongoing to provide the remaining budget. The initial technical studies for these dams have been conducted, and now the time for implementation has arrived. The completion of the budget for these electricity production projects and water dams will create direct work for at least 25,000 people. Improving the irrigation system and doubling electricity production will naturally provide many indirect job opportunities for our compatriots.

I and my other colleagues in the government are striving daily to bring other economic development plans we have for the country to the implementation stage. We will tell our great nation about them at the proper time. For now, my good news to my compatriots is that the National Job and Employment Creation Program is ready for implementation and has moved from the planning stage to the execution stage, which, God willing, will provide work for a large number of our people, especially those youth who wish to serve their country.

A Call for Self-Reliance and National Unity

Sisters and brothers, my honorable compatriots!

Our state and people are making daily sacrifices in an undeclared war to preserve stability, historical pride, and the dignified future of the country's next generations. Our country is weary of this continuous war; but we, as a proud and devoted nation, have exceptional spiritual, human, and material capacities at our disposal. Ultimately, through unity and empathy, and by transforming these material and spiritual resources and capacities from potential into action, and by accepting our individual and collective responsibility, we can make success belong to this great nation.

Until yesterday, due to over-reliance on the security and financial resources of our international partners, the scale of our problems might have been less in the short term; but our today and tomorrow must be made sustainable by relying on the firm pillars of domestic resources. On this path, for a time, our nation will grapple with hardships and difficulties. However, because of the understanding of accepting responsibility, the hope of standing on our own feet, and our collective demand for reform, the scale of our problems will decrease gradually but fundamentally.

The time for others to take our responsibility and provide for the security and financial needs of our country and people has passed. If we ourselves do not think of the salvation and improvement of our people, rest assured that no one will be more compassionate toward our people than us. But if we use the minimum resources rationally and optimally, maintain our unity and empathy, stand firm against problems, restore trust in ourselves, and share in each other's pain, our international partners will also continue their companionship with us on the path of stability and development of the country. Like other progressive nations, we are capable of regaining our historical position in this way, proud and with honor, without being dependent on others for a long period.

Insha'Allah (God willing).