Kabul: This week, dozens of Afghan businesswomen participated virtually in an exhibition in Dubai to promote carpets, jewellery, dried fruit, and other handmade goods as part of an effort to enter international markets after the Taliban regime in Afghanistan reduced the number of jobs available to women.

The United Nations Development Programme and the Afghan Women's Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AWCCI) organised the three-day exhibition, which features 26 female-run businesses, and it started on Thursday at a hotel in Dubai.

Due to visa and travel restrictions, the majority of business owners joined via video link from the Afghan capital, where they claimed that the country's faltering economy and some restrictions on women in public life were hurting their operations.

Also Read: Serbia and Kosovo have agreed on how to carry out the EU plan,

At the exhibition in Dubai, Rayhana Karim from the AWCCI stated that the organisation was working to develop a brand for goods with the phrase "Made by Afghan Women" to appeal to international customers who support women's rights.

"We need to give Afghan women an opportunity," Karim told Reuters. "The end-consumers in Europe, the United States, and the UAE want to support Afghan women.

When you purchase a high-quality item, you are helping an Afghan woman stand on her own two feet, achieve financial independence, and begin to have a seat at the table.

According to a recent estimate by the International Labour Organization, since the Taliban seized power in 2021 as foreign forces withdrew, 25% of women's jobs have vanished. They observed that many women had started home-based businesses, preventing a further decline in the number of women employed.

Also Read:  Kazakhstan begins snap parliamentary elections

After foreign governments imposed sanctions on the banking industry and frozen assets at the central bank, the economy of the nation was severely hampered.

Numerous female NGO employees have been banned by the Taliban government, and some Taliban-run ministries do not permit female employees to work in their offices. Some people, including the Taliban's acting minister of commerce, have said they support companies run by women. The expo's businesswomen participants vowed not to give up.

Also Read:  Visitors wishing to see the Arizona Falls are displaced due to flooding

"When Afghanistan fell apart, we lost hope, but Afghan women are fighters, so we will struggle and fight," they said. Ziagul Jahani, a producer of handmade carpets and clothing out of the province of central Parwan, declared, "We will never allow losing our business to happen.