Afghanistan

capitol

size

population

kabul

647,500 square kilometersslightly less than texas

32.7 million

eradicating extreme poverty and hunger

each spot represents one million people

red represents the Afghans that live on less then $1 a day

17,351,339 Afghans live below the poverty line

In the 1990s Afghanistan was in a state of unrest. Three opposed ethnic groups were participating in a devastating civil war. In 1996, an Islamic Fundamentalist group called the Taliban, took control. By this point the economy was demolished, and there was no government.

As rulers of Afghanistan, the Taliban, allowed Osama Bin Laden and the Arab terrorist organization Al Queda to take refuge. In response to the 9/11 attacks the United States invaded Afghanistan and began is long-standing occupation, that is still in effect today.

Recently this economy has had no chance for improvement. There are just as many children in the street, and just as many fami-lies struggling. Local militant groups, and a spike in violience has made any significant change improbable for quite some time.

Prices for wheat and all wheat products increased 90% in 2007, and 60% in 2008. That is a 150% increase.

6,600,000 million people go hungry everyday

40% of the population is unemployed

acheive universal primary education

only 28.1% of people in Afghanistan are considered literate

4/5 males are considered literatewhile only 1/5 females can read or write

1995

650 schools14,595,539 children in Afghanistanthats over 22,000 kids per schoolonly a tiny fraction ever recieved any form of education

1996

The Taliban in an effort to return the government to a Fundamentalist state bans females from schools

2001-2006

The occupation brought in significant interna-tional aid, improving the education system little by little. As school increased so did the attacks against them carried out by the Taliban.

2007-Today

9,500 schools8 million children in schoolratio of girls to boys is 3:4

In the early 2000s five higher education facilities opened.

Kabul University reopened in 2002, 24,000 students enrolled.

In total, by 2007, seven universities were opperational, but only a total of 22,700 students currently attend any of these schools.

The education system in Afghanistan has gone from being somewhat non-existant in the 90s to nearly 53% of children in schools today. But the war and an increase in Taliban activ-ity is threatening any more advances.

New generations are finding it hard to come out of the oppressive way of life. Many women still choose to completely cover their bodies, and use an escort. And the war has not made the transition any easier.

Today, since the introduction of a new interim government 30% of the leadership positions must be held by women.

50% of women under 16 are married

By law, you must be 16 to get married.

Nearly every woman in Afghanistan is a practicing Muslim. In Islam, men and women are meant to be equal before God, and each have rights. From the mid 90s up until 2001, when the Taliban reigned, women were stripped of all rights they had held previously. Women were forbidden to work, they could’nt even leave the house with out a male escort. Women were not allowed to see a male physician, and were required to cover their entire bodies, even their eyes.

1 in 3 women experience violence regularily

There are many women rising up against prejudice and fighting for the rights of women in Afghanistan. One of the oldest and most influential is the Revolu-tionary Association of Women in Afghanistan (RAWA). This organization, established in 1977, is an anti-fundamentalist, anti-american group that has brought together hundreds of women in Afghanistan.

create gender equality and empower women

on average an Afghan women will give birth to6 or 7 children

1980s-1990s

Due to the heavy militaryconflict most medical professionals left the country, and nearly every facility was closed.

2003

11 Physiciansand 18 Nursesfor every 100,000 peoplethats over 9,000 patients per doctor

2004

1 medical facilityfor every 27,000 peoplein populated areas one facility would have to accommodate up to 300,000 people

one in five will die before reaching the age of five

Before 2001, the number of women recieving prenatal care was less then 5%. In 2006 it reached a high of 30%. The country is struggling to keep this level of care available. Much of the medical attention is being directed towards the war effort.

The most common reasons for child mortality is poor sanitation, and insufficient potable water supply.

reduce child mortality

1,900 out of 100,000 times a woman will die giving birth in Afghanistan.

improve maternal health

only 1 in 10 births will take place in a health facility, or about 89%

Women in Afghanistan die giving birth for multiple rea-sons. There are currently only 144 pro�esionals trained in Obstetric Care practicing in Afghanistan. Only 23% of women have ready access to clean water, and only 12% have adequate sanitation.Recently all available medical resources have been directed at those a�ected by the war.

Afghanistan’s maternal death rate is one of the highest in the world. In 2004 the World Health Organization pro-jected that Afghanistan’s current health stand-ing would not improve substantially for at least a decade.

combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

Less than 1% of the population is affected by HIV/AIDSAfghanistan is considered a hi-risk country for contracted the virus more rampantly in the future. It is estimated that over a million people in Afghanistan use narcotics regularily, intravenous drug use is a common way of contracting the virus.

More common then HIV/AIDS, infectious and parasitic deseases, like malaria and protozeal diarrhea are pervasive.

A five-year anti-malaria strategy is in affect, costing over $28 million. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria will fight the diseasese prevena-tively as well as treating existing cases.

25% of the population has no access to any health care

Each dot represents one million people, the red are those affected by malaria.Because so many malaria cases go unreported it is estimated that up to 3 million are effected per year. The number of people affected as only recently started to decline with the introduction of nearly half a million mosquito nets, and more being shipped out from foreign supporters constantly.

ensuring environmental sustainability

In the 1980s and 1990s Afghanistan’s heavily agri-culturally based eeconomy suffered brutally due to the civil wars. Relieve has come more recently in the form of international aid.

Afghanistan is the world largest producer of opium.And is known to participate heavily in what is called the “black economy”.

53% of Afghanistan’s GDP was generated by opium production

In the early 2000s a program was implemented that replaced illegal poppy fields with legal wheat fields. It seemed to be making progress, until 2006, when poppy output jumped 59%. And again in 2007 when it when up 34%

Afghanistans main resources include land, chrome, coal, copper, iron, salt,minerals,natural gas, oil.There is very little water available naturally.

imports

exports

develop a global partnership for development

Currently in Afghanistan an interim government has been put in place, with Hamid Karzai as the acting president. Due to the constant attacks from the Taliban, and resistance from local tribes, the government is estimated to only control 10% of the country. The Taliban has been able to conquear an estimated 30%, and the rest is ruled by local tribespeople.

Due to an increase in poppy cultivation, the economy got a large boost during 2007-2008, which also increased local support of the Taliban.

The Afghanistan Compact was signed in January 2006, with the hope to increase internation support of economic development, security, increased interest in human rights, and to decrease corruption and drug trafficking. The Compact was delegated to go through 2010.

In 2007 Afghanistan qualified for World Bank assistand as part of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative.