Afghans will benefit from Slovak help. (source: Reuters)
WITHIN a year a brand new Slovak-funded building will appear in the Afghan city of Kunduz. It will house a multi-functional centre providing several services to citizens: a library, access to the internet, educational lectures, exhibitions, and other cultural events. Iveta Liberková, the head of the Spoločnosť ľudí dobrej vole (Association of People with Goodwill), an association of volunteers providing humanitarian aid, explained the project’s development goals to the SITA newswire.
The project received support amounting to almost €240,000 from Slovak Aid funds. This is already the organisation’s third development project in Afghanistan. The establishment of such a multifunctional cultural-educational centre is intended to boost and develop the city and the whole region. Liberková also sees it as a chance to support the development of leisure activities for children and young people and reduce criminality among young Afghans.
The project will also bring more jobs to the province. The library will include various books and audio and visual offerings and the internet centre will have 8 computers with internet connections. Users of the services will be charged just a symbolic fee and students and teachers will have free access. The offices of the local governor and mayor will support the centre and its operation financially and materially, together with the Afghan Information and Culture Ministry. More resources are expected from user fees and from grants by state and foreign donors.
