IRIN: Women workers exposed to health risks in Herat factories

HERAT, 30 October 2007 (IRIN) – The Safi fur and wool factory, in Herat city, western Afghanistan, has more than 350 female and 300 male workers who earn only 300 Afghanis (US$6) for their 48-hour, six-day week. The factory produces coats, jackets, hats and other garments for the European and North American markets. There are more than 1,500 women working in four such factories in Herat city.

The air in the Safi processing plant is full of dust from dirty furs, which workers tear to pieces with their bare hands.

Jamila (not hear real name) has worked in the factory for more than a year and recently experienced an unrelenting pain in her chest. “First, I was coughing and now I feel a terrible pain in my chest,” the 32-year-old said.

“Doctors and medicine are expensive,” she said. The modes amount she earns helps to supplement the family income to help feed her four children.

Less than 2m away from where Jamila is working, her baby has fallen asleep on a thin piece of straw. Jamila brings her youngest son to the factory every day, because there is nobody to look after him at home.

Health risks

Workers have to separate fur from goats’ hair and weave sheep’s wool without protective gloves or masks.

Ahmad Zia Rahmani, a lung and chest diseases specialist at the Herat city hospital, says workers in fur and wool factories are vulnerable to virulent microbes, which harm the respiratory system and cause chest infections.

“Sheep’s wool and goats’ hair usually contain harmful bacteria which can easily be transferred to a human via close contact and inhalation,” Rahmani said.

Mothers who regularly breastfeed their babies and consume food at the factory can also transfer dangerous microbes to their children if they do not wash their hands with antibacterial soap, Rahmani added.

In the past year, at least seven female workers died due to respiratory and chest diseases, workers and factory officials said.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) said it would send a delegation to Herat to assess and report on the situation of female workers in factories there, after IRIN approached the ministry for a comment.

“We will make sure appropriate measures are adopted to improve the situation of workers,” said Ghulam Gaus Bashiri, a deputy minister in the department.

According to Bashiri, a revised draft labour law has been submitted to the National Assembly for approval, which has “many benefits for female workers”, including maternity leave, equal wages for men and women and a light working regime for women during pregnancy.

No medical insurance

According to Afghanistan’s labour law, public and private employers should provide medical insurance to employees who work in hazardous environments.

However, there are too many hurdles – including poor law enforcement institutions, lack of awareness about women’s rights and conservative traditions – which constrict the law on paper with weak or no practical power.

Almost all workers in factories in Herat province have no written contract with their employers, particularly in the private sector. Workers and employers have only verbal agreements, which do not cover medical and hazard insurance.

In the past 12 months, seven women workers of the wool and fur factories in Herat have died due to respiratory diseases and chest infections, workers and Mohammad Ibrahim Ghafori, an official at the Safi factory, said.

Workers’ health problems have been compounded by their inability to afford medical checks and treatment.

There is no legal imperative for employers to offer assistance to their workers in need of medical treatment.

“We are not in a position to offer medical insurance or any financial assistance for health problems. We tell this to our workers before they start a job with us,” said Mohammad Ibrahim Ghafori, an official for the Safi wool and fur factory.

Some workers, meanwhile, acknowledged that they are exposed to health hazards in the factory but said lack of employment opportunities and economic needs force them to accept the risk.

Herat TV: ECO relations to pave way to EU-style economic alliance, FM Spanta hopes

Herat state-own television broadcast a recorded interview with Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar-Spanta in his birthplace, the district of Karokh, in Herat Province on 30 October. The minister was in the western province to visit the joint Afghan-Iranian trade exhibition.

The minister thanked the people of Herat for their hospitality and concerted efforts during the ECO conference on 17-20 October.

Asked what the impact of the ECO conference on the country’s economy might be, the minister said the main aim was to prove that Afghanistan can stand on its own two feet and regain its position in the region. “Fortunately, the international community has got this message and, during my recent visit to Britain, foreign observers also mentioned that Afghanistan was now trying to connect other countries with each other. This is the most important thing for us,” he said.

He said the second priority was regional cooperation and that they wanted to show that they considered this as highly important.

“Thirdly,” Dadfar-Spanta said, “we have been thinking about globalization and the way the world is now becoming a small village and that is why no single government, regardless of its strength and national unity, is able to play its role as an effective member of the international community [on its own]. As a result, our objective is to turn the region into a free market and to remove the customs departments of the 10 member states… My wish is that we can remove the obstacles and become like the European Union.”

The minister said many of the programmes discussed at the ECO meeting require time to be put into practice. He said preliminary discussions have been held on the construction of the railway from Iran to Herat and from Turkmenistan to Herat.

Touching on his priorities during his chairmanship of the Economic Cooperation Organization, the minister said he would be trying to establish contacts among the young generations of the member states, so that they can exchange views, experiences and learn from each other.

Joint cooperation to tackle narcotics was an important subject which he touched on at the ECO meeting, the minister said. “You are aware that all the ECO members suffer from this problem and large quantities of narcotics are grown and trafficked in our country with the involvement of the mafia. So we should work on a joint mechanism to fight drugs,” he said.

Another of his aims, the minister said, was to adjust the view the world has of Afghanistan. “People outside the country believe that Afghanistan is a country of the Taleban. That is why we are trying to show the true picture of the country and that the Afghan young generation is a modern, civilized generation with Islamic beliefs and part of the international community.”

The minister urged the young generation to serve the country and to set aside ideological and religious differences.

[Description of Source: Herat Herat Television in Dari -- state-run television. OSC IAP20071031950077 30 Oct 07]

Radio Sahar: Afghan-Iranian exhibition of products opens in Herat

Excerpt from report by Afghan female-orientated community Radio Sahar on 29 October

[Presenter] The second exhibition of Iranian products opened in Herat today. The five-day exhibition is being held conducted at the Mawlana-e Balkh Hall [near the Herat provincial government offices]. According to officials, approximately 100 Iranian and Afghan companies are taking part in this exhibition. My colleague Hamed Azad, who had a tour of the exhibition, is reporting on this:

[Correspondent] This is the second exhibition of Iranian industrial products in Herat Province over the past two years. During his inaugural speech on the first day of the exhibition, Herat Deputy Governor Mir Abdol Khaleq called on foreign companies to improve the quality of the products they export to Afghanistan. He voiced concern over the low quality of products imported to the country. At the same time, Gholam Qader Akbar, head of the Herat Chambers of Commerce, states the exhibition is providing a good opportunity for both the Iranian and Afghan companies to compete with each other in terms of quality. A number of individuals are concerned that displaying some of the Iranian products, which are identical to the ones produced by the Afghan companies, could have a negative impact on the production of Afghan companies. Mr Akbar says:

[Qader Akbar] We have the same products here, for instance drinking water and soft drinks. We have a high quality of drinking water and soft drinks approved by the Ministry of Health. As a result, the exhibition will be an opportunity in terms of a constructive competition [between the Iranian and Afghan companies] to improve their design, decoration and marketing. In this way, our factory owners and industrialists will be encouraged to produce high quality products and improve marketing.

[Correspondent] However, the investors think about the financial benefits of the exhibition. According to Esmatollah, the owner of a private company in Herat, most of the traders have difficulty in choosing and importing Iranian products, but the exhibition will be an opportunity for them to have further options.

[Esmatollah] They will be able to take a closer look at all the manufactures produced in Iran and they can examine them in terms of quality, quantity and price. This is itself a financial benefit and a good chance for the traders to have more options inside the country and get ride of confusion they have in choosing products in the Iranian markets.

[Correspondent] Anwar Shah Yusofi, an economist and head of the state-owned banks in western Afghanistan, believes that holding such exhibitions can be a good experience for the Afghan Chambers of Commerce as well as traders and investors. He states the exhibition is also of importance in terms of marketing.

[Passage omitted: official's remarks]

[Correspondent] Mr Akbar says they are holding an exhibition of the Afghan products in Mashhad, Iran, in the near future. Nevertheless, he did not add when the exhibition will be held. In addition, the Iranian companies were supposed to open a specific exhibition of their own products, but Mr Akbar says he had disagreed with the idea and asserted the Afghan companies should have a part in the exhibition.

The five-day exhibition includes 50 stalls of the Iranian companies and 50 from the Afghan companies.

[Description of Source: Herat Radio Sahar in Dari -- local independent radio station in Herat run mainly by women. IAP20071029950088 1230 GMT 29 Oct 07]

Payam-e Mojahed: Concerns about whereabouts of Uzbek contractors in Herat

Text of report by Sayd Jawad Hojat, “Where did personnel of the foreign company go?!!”, published by independent Afghan newspaper Payam-e Mojahed on 25 October

The tomb of Amir Ali Sher Nawayee, located next to the beautiful tomb of Gowhar Shad Khatun in Herat Province, is one of the ancient sites in Herat Province. It has partly been damaged in the past years and required serious repair.

Amir Ali Sher Nawayee was a prudent minister of Sultan Hussain Bayeqra during the Timurid reign, and was a knowledgeable personality of this land.

A foreign company, reportedly from Uzbekistan, has contracted the repairing work of this ancient building, and is to start the repairing work after signing a contract with officials in charge.

The company has placed its working equipment, including heavy and light machinery in areas near the tomb, and has later started its preliminary work. The area has been in the hands of the company for a long time.

The interesting point is that all officials and personnel of the company have suddenly disappeared. No one knows where they are, but all their equipment and machinery still remain in the place they previously were.

Security officials of Herat Province also do not know anything about their whereabouts, and insurgent groups have also not said anything about this.

Locals and witnesses have different ideas. They suspect that during the excavation work around the tomb, personnel of the company might have found something much valuable than their equipment or the contract.

The tomb of Ali Sher Nawayee is located in the centre of Herat city, and the possibility of abduction or murder of the company workers by the Taleban is very far. The people therefore believe that lack of control over activities of foreign companies has once again led to a big mistake.

[Description of Source: Kabul Payam-e Mojahed (Mojahed Voice) in Dari -- Independent pro-mojahedin weekly and the official mouthpiece of Supervisory Council of the Jami'at-e Eslami Party of the late Ahmad Shah Mas'ud. Originally published in Parwan in the north during the Taliban regime, it is now published in Kabul. Often critical of government and supports veteran jihadi leaders like Herat governor Esmai'il Khan. Critical of Western influence and did not suport a role for the former king. OSC IAP20071028950090 25 Oct 07]

Pagah: “Increasing smuggling in Herat”

Text of editorial entitled “Increasing smuggling in Herat” by Afghan Herat University newspaper Pagah on 27 October 2007

Recently, security organizations in Herat Province, particularly the border police, have done their best to seize large amounts of drugs in border regions.

In addition, since the recent replacement of the Herat security commander, security situation has been relatively under control and the police have started to treat people humanely. Of course all this should be appreciated. However, the very question as to whether all these efforts are sufficient and effective enough to help security stay as it is will be answered in the course of time. Let me start with this fact: As a strategic and border town in a country like Afghanistan, which is the largest producer and cultivator of drug in all over the world, Herat has undoubtedly attracted the local and international mafia. This is because Herat can play the role of the best and most proper harbour for drug smugglers to carry out their business. A proof for this fact is the prevailing market of opium, heroin and crystal trade in Herat. As heard repeatedly from high-ranking government officials, some accomplices of the drug mafia and smugglers are working in senior government posts and provincial security officials share the profits with groups of drug smugglers.

Yes, a number of drug smugglers, who have been involved in bloodsheds, are carrying out their business without any fear in Herat Province, too. Unfortunately, these individuals had managed to receive weapons and safety warranty from the police before Mr [Joma] Adel was appointed Herat’s security commander. The men are still continuing their inhumane business by using the facilities they possess. Although, as executive organizations, Herat security officials have untiringly been working to establish security in the province, they will achieve nothing unless they set up foundational, accurate strategies to fight drug smuggling – identifying and arresting important members of the drug mafia. We feel the lack of such measures in the fight against the drugs trade. This is at a time that the anti-narcotics department is operating as a foundation where policies are made. This department is making tough efforts while it does not have a correct understanding of the region and situation. Their efforts resemble the struggle of a gardener who tries to repair the branches of a tree, while its roots have a serious problem.

Furthermore, corruption in government departments and preference of nepotism over competence are the main factors which have provided the ground for the drugs mafia to carry on with their business.

We are proud that drug cultivation has dropped significantly in Herat Province, but we are unaware that supply and demand are closely linked with each other. This means that the presence of drug smugglers in Herat have caused demands to rise in the country. And this market is getting busier and busier every day, which leads to an increase in drug cultivation and production.

On the other hand, drug smugglers are negligent of the tragic side of their business. By preferring their own interests to that of the nation and satisfying their ego, they are leading thousands of young men to self-destruction and bringing sorrow to mothers. They are ignorant that by sending out their stuff to other countries, nations will start to hate Afghans.

We hope that the central government, particularly concerned officials in Herat Province, pay serious attention to this issue so that our national identity and pride will continue to remain the same and that Afghans will continue to have friendly relations with the rest of the world. This will also help prevent many young people inside the country from becoming addicted to this destructive stuff. We hope that we are moving towards a prestigious and renovated Afghanistan.

[Description of Source: Herat Pagah in Dari --Sometimes critical of the government and foreign forces. OSC IAP20071027950070 27 Oct 07]

UPI: India to join TAP Pipeline

NEW DELHI, Oct. 24 (UPI) — India says it will join the proposed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan gas pipeline project in November.

The move would be a major boost to the nation’s energy security, a spokesman for the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said. TAP would become TAPI after India joins the project.

The Asian Development Bank has backed the project, which is aimed at importing natural gas from the Central Asian nation to meet India’s growing energy requirements.

The ADB has called for a meeting of the steering committee of the project between Nov. 28 and 29 in Islamabad, Pakistan, in which India formally would become a partner in the project. Following India’s formal induction, the four member nations are expected to sign a Project Heads of Agreement and a Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement.

Until now, India had observer status in the project.

The spokesman said the proposed pipeline would have a capacity of 33 billion cubic meters per year. The $4 billion, 1,680-kilometer pipeline will run from the Daulatabad gas field to Afghanistan. From there it will be constructed from Herat to Kandahar, and then via Quetta and Multan in Pakistan.

The pipeline faces logistical roadblocks, however, as it runs through Afghanistan and Pakistan, where security is likely to be a major concern.

IWPR: Herat Reeling from Violent Crime Wave

A spate of murders and kidnappings is denting the economic prospects of a formerly stable part of Afghanistan.

By Sadeq Behnam and Sudabah Afzali in Herat (ARR No. 270, 24-Oct-07)

Deteriorating security in Herat has led to businesses shutting down and left residents wondering who is behind a recent wave of kidnappings, murders and armed robberies.

After the fall of the Taleban, investors flocked to open factories in what was considered one of the most stable cities in the country. Now many say they are afraid to continue operating.

One businessman, who did not wish to be named, told IWPR he was kidnapped about a month ago and only released following lengthy negotiations and the payment of a ransom. He has now shut down his factory, which produced bread and biscuits.

“The security forces aren’t capable of arresting a pickpocket, let alone a kidnapper,” said the entrepreneur.

This man was just one of six businessmen recently abducted and released for money, according to Tooryalai Ghausi, who is deputy head of the local industrialists’ union.

Of more than 170 factories based in Herat province, about 60 per cent have ceased operating in recent months, Ghausi said.

Even government officials are not safe. Ghulam Mohammad Mudabber, the head of the provincial mines and industries department, was reportedly kidnapped and badly beaten. A relative, Noor Mohammad, told IWPR that Mudabber was released after the family paid a ransom of 140,000 US dollars.

Police spokesperson Noor Khan Nekzad said the number of armed robberies and kidnappings in the city was actually down 60 per cent in September. He predicted that the trend would continue, attributing this to continued cooperation from local elders and former commanders from the mujahedin factions, along with the recent appointment of a new police chief, Mohammad Juma Adeel.

Despite the fall in crime figures, security officials said there were five murders, five kidnappings and 15 robberies during the month.

While Nekzad would not say who he believed was responsible for the crime wave, he denied it was the Taleban. Instead, he suggested the criminals are linked to influential figures vying for power in the area.

Some residents and analysts suspect that armed men loyal to Energy Minister Ismail Khan are attempting to regain lost power by destabilising the region.

The former mujahedin commander and self-styled emir of western Afghanistan ruled Herat until the Taleban overran the city and imprisoned him. After the fall of the fundamentalist regime, Ismail Khan was appointed governor of the province, before being sacked by President Hamed Karzai in September 2004, a move which sparked massive demonstrations in Herat. Following the presidential election in October that year, Karzai appointed Ismail Khan as energy minister.

Mohammad Rafeeq Shaheer, head of the Experts’ Council, a non-governmental institution, said Ismail Khan loyalists have been well armed over the years. “Those who have been armed may be the cause of such incidents today,” he added.

Herat resident Ghulam Mahboob told IWPR that he had witnessed an attempted abduction by men connected with Ismail Khan.

“A few days ago, armed men wanted to kidnap my neighbour. He shouted out, and I came out of my house. I saw a person loyal to Ismail Khan there whom I knew very well,” he said, adding that the would-be kidnappers gave up after neighbours intervened.

Qari Mohammad Yousuf Masoon, a former spokesperson for Ismail Khan, who is now secretary of the minister’s Afghan People’s National Solidarity Council, denied the allegations.

“These rumours and accusations are being spread by those who are in some way involved in security problems,” said Masoon.

He blamed the skyrocketing crime rates on a lack of Islamic values within society, as well as on ineffectual security forces. Masoon claimed that some government officials know who the criminals are but refuse to arrest them.

Mohammad Musa, a local resident who was once a combatant with one of the Afghan militia factions, Hezb-i-Islami, said the government’s attempt to marginalise the former mujahedin groups has caused resentment among their members.

“People who stood up to foreign invasion for 20 years are now looked upon as criminals,” he said. “They were discharged via the DDR [Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration] programme, and this is one of the most important contributory factors in the lack of security in Afghanistan.”

Musa recommended that the government focus on integrating former combatants into the new national army and police force.

While crime in Herat is hurting the local economy, it is also affecting the Afghan government’s revenue, according to Khushhal Rasi, head of the provincial customs department. He said customs receipts in the province for the last five months have fallen by 30 per cent compared with the previous five-month period.

Herat province, which borders Iran and Turkmenistan, is a key transport corridor for the region, but traders are becoming more wary of bringing goods across the border with Iran.

At least one business is benefiting from the security problems, however. Metalworker Gul Ahmad welds iron grills to keep the criminals out of homes and businesses. These days, he said, “I have so much business, I am turning customers away.”

Sadeq Behnam and Sudabah Afzali are freelance reporters in Herat.

Barnett Rubin’s assessment of regional politics

Barnett Rubin assesses regional relations in the aftermath of the ECO conference in Herat.

FAO: FAO helps Afghan farmers tune in to better incomes

October 20, 2007

Herat, Afghanistan – Two evenings a week, village farmer Ghulam Mostafa crouches next to his small transistor radio and listens carefully. Over the next few minutes he learns where he can get the best prices for his wheat, chickpeas and onions.

“If I don’t listen to the radio, I don’t know the prices in neighbouring provinces,” he says. “One time I heard that each kilogram of onions was worth five to six Afghanis in Herat market but twelve to fifteen Afghanis in Kandahar; so five friends and I rented a truck and went to Kandahar to get a higher price.”

This simple success story is being multiplied all over Afghanistan thanks to a market information system set up by FAO with European Union, German and US funding.

Besides the radio shows, the system generates weekly printed bulletins for cabinet ministers, giving them up-to-the minute data on prices, crop production levels and weather reports – the vital signs of the nation’s food supply.

Among those gathering price details is Abdul Karim of the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock. Based out of a small, bustling office in Herat, he visits local markets each day to discover average costs for produce including wheat, flour, mutton and veal.

“At first the shopkeepers were surprised and in some cases suspicious of why we were asking about their prices; some think we are from the local government and that they are in trouble,” he says. “But we explain how we are trying to help by ensuring they charge competitive prices.”

The market information is compiled and analysed by the Food, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Information Management and Policy Unit, launched by FAO in 2003. The unit tailors its output – producing radio broadcasts like the one Ghulam Mostafa listens to, a quarterly Agriculture Prospects Report, and an online database. That data is used by, among others, UN agencies, donors and local authorities to help identify areas where action is needed and where previous aid has proved effective.

Rebuilding public services

FAO’s Afghan programme is worth US$17 million a year, employs 400 staff and cuts across the entire food and agriculture sector. Through such measures the sector is being rebuilt after decades of disruption caused by conflict, insecurity and drought.

While Phase I of the information system project, funded by the United States and Germany, focused on shorter-term remedies, Phase II, with US$3.8 million in EU funding, seeks to upgrade the system, with emphasis on hunger and poverty, as well as step up the training of local staff. Although the project currently supports the Unit with additional staff, the objective is to leave a self-sufficient team in place when the project ends in 2009.

Unit director Haqiqatpal Ghulam Rabbani says: “FAO plays a very important role here. We have a very close relationship and in every aspect they are here to train and help us; one main area has been in improving computer skills and Internet knowledge.

“Some of our best experts either went abroad or were killed during the conflict, so we’re very behind in terms of technical progress. We have to increase our knowledge and skills through education and training, in order to progress.”

Broad benefits

It is not only farmers, retailers and the local shoppers who are benefiting.

The cabinet learned of a 1.2 million tonnes deficit in wheat last year and, using the hard evidence provided by the information system, quickly convinced donors to give US$75 million to offset the shortfall.

Weather indicators forecasting drought also mean the government can increase food stores in anticipation of poor harvests to come.

In contrast, when figures this year predicted over-production of grapes and raisins in Herat province, additional export deals were negotiated to move the surplus. Small-scale farmers reaped the benefits.

fao.org

Fars News Agency: Iran Hopeful About Boosting Economic Exchanges With Afghanistan

October 19, 2007

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki expressed hope that trade and economic exchanges between Iran and Afghanistan would increase in future.

Mottaki made the remarks in a meeting with Afghanistan’s Energy, Water and Power Minister Ismail Khan in Herat on Friday, where the two sides reviewed latest developments in the two countries’ ties as well as projects underway in the city of Herat.

Also in the meeting, Mottaki noted the two nation’s interests, and viewed Tehran-Kabul ties as developing.

He hoped that longer strides would be taken for the boosting of the two sides’ trade exchanges, implementation of joint ventures, facilitation of the visits of traders and industry owners and materialization of economic prosperity in light of the existing potentials.

The minister also stressed Iran’s deep eagerness to implement joint ventures and assist Afghanistan with technical and engineering services.

For his part, the Afghan minister underlined Iran’s positive role in his country, particularly in promoting trade activities and reconstruction of Herat, and expressed the hope that the two countries’ exchanges would increase.

Mottaki is in Afghanistan to attend the 17th ministerial meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).

The foreign ministers of ECO’s member states are scheduled to convene in Herat to attend a meeting on October 20.

Meantime, Iranian, Afghan and Tajik foreign ministers are scheduled to attend a trilateral meeting to study regional issues and discuss economic cooperation.

The Economic Cooperation Organization which was established in 1985 in pursuit of the promotion of economic, technical and cultural cooperation among the member states has now turned into a powerful body.

The organization was founded by Iran, Turkey and Pakistan but Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan jointed the block afterwards.

[Description of Source: Tehran Fars News Agency (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Privately-owned news agency. It began operating in mid November 2002. Its managing editor is Mehdi Faza'eli, the editor in chief of the Javan daily and a member of the managerial board of the Association of Muslim Journalists. The other members of the board of directors of the news agency, are Alizera Shemirani, of Farda newspaper, Abdollah Moqaddam and Akbar Nabavi of Resalat newspaper, the former director of Farabi Foundation Hasan Eslami-Mehr, and university professor Abolhoseyn Ruholamin. OSC IAP20071019950066 1425 GMT 19 Oct 07.]