Afghanistan Overview
As the United States prepares to send additional troops into Afghanistan to root out terrorist and train Afghani security forces, ActionAid is on the ground providing humanitarian and development assistance to the locals who’s lives have been impacted by the ongoing conflict. Our work revolves around empowering Afghani women and girls to begin taking back the freedom the Taliban robbed from them. During the Taliban’s reign, girls weren't allowed to go to school and women were forced to live an isolated existence. Even today, only 3 percent of girls attend primary school, and without an education, poverty will continue to dominate their lives.
Culture Remains a Hurdle Between Afghanistan’s Women and Empowerment
Working to Educate and Empower Afghanistan’s Future Leaders
Disseminating HIV and AIDS Education in Afghanistan
Urge the Top NATO Commander to Protect Afghan Civilians
See All Four Afghanistan Features
ActionAid in Afghanistan
ActionAid began working in Afghanistan in 2002. From the very start, ActionAid has been engaged with development, humanitarian assistance in emergencies, and policy and advocacy work aimed at fighting poverty, injustice, exclusions and insecurity in Afghanistan, especially as it pertains to women and children living in the war-torn country.
Poverty in rural Afghanistan hovers around 53 percent and nearly 4.3 million people living in the outlying areas do not have secure livelihoods. Cold temperatures during the winter months combined with restricted accessibility to infrastructure such as roads, poses an additional risk to country’s poor. Poverty in Afghanistan not only places a strain on families but it also leads to low-literacy rates and poor health care conditions. For example, the female adult literacy rate is 12.6 percent and a young Afghani mother dies during childbirth every 30 minutes.
Although life remains unpredictable for Afghanis, ActionAid is on the ground working to six areas – Balkh, Jawzjan, Kabul, Kandahar, Ghazni and Kunduz – alongside marginalized groups to eradicate poverty. Today, our Afghanistan program involves grass roots community activities, local-level capacity building, working with lawmakers and advocating on the population’s behalf to begin the paradigm shift.
Every month in 2009, ActionAid will introduce you to our work by featuring one of the 50 countries where we work. We know it can be overwhelming when contemplating the challenges faced by poor people and communities around the world. It can be even more difficult to understand how you can have a role in solutions to global poverty.
But there is hope. With assistance from supporters and activists, ActionAid is making day-to-day life better for millions of the world’s poorest citizens while also working to eradicate the fundamental causes of poverty, project by project, policy by policy.
