Fact sheet: World Vision’s work in Afghanistan

Current needs

More than half of Afghanistan’s 30 million people live in abject poverty. Harmful cultural practices such as early marriage, along with taboos against male physicians attending to women, have exacerbated the country’s maternal and infant mortality rates — among the very highest in the world. One in six babies dies before its first birthday, and six of every 100 mothers dies in childbirth. Afghanistan also has one of the world's highest child mortality rate, with one in four children dying before the age of five.

Education

The UN estimates that 1.5 million girls denied an education under the Taliban have returned to formal learning since 2001. World Vision’s Food for Education program encourages school enrollment by providing families who lack adequate food with rice, lentils and oil when they send their children to school. The program, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, helps improve the nutrition of school-aged children and their families while ensuring that the next generation — particularly girls — receives an education. Other key aspects of this program include the following:

• Some 1,000 teachers trained each year and provided with supplementary food as needed;
• Ten new schools built each year, many in rural communities;
• Adult literacy classes, which include instruction on health, hygiene and landmine safety.

Health

World Vision’s midwife training program prepares women to provide prenatal, delivery and postnatal care to pregnant women in their villages and towns, helping to lower Afghanistan's maternal and infant mortality rates. The two-year program provides students with classroom instruction as well as on-site training at the Herat Regional Hospital in western Afghanistan. Since 2004, 142 women have graduated from the program, with an additional 60 students currently enrolled.

As part of their training, students also learn to feed and care for premature infants in the hospital's neonatal unit, also funded by World Vision. The neonatal unit, the only one in western Afghanistan, is saving and caring for 20 infants each week.

Current challenges

Continuing insecurity and violence threaten Afghanistan’s development efforts. Attacks and intimidation campaigns against schools, in particular, have threatened the progress girls and women are making in gaining an education. Violence has also restricted the work of aid agencies like World Vision in some areas, limiting the assistance local residents can receive.



World Vision is a Christian relief and development organization dedicated to helping children and their communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty. We serve the world’s poor—regardless of a person’s religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.

Who Is World Vision?

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.

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