Development Ratings

Dr. Sarah Fane visited the Panjshir Valley, Afghanistan, in May 2001 to medically assess a mother and child clinic. She found the hospital destroyed by the Taliban. Doctors were working in very basic conditions in a building with shattered windows, using minimal equipment. She established Afghan Connection in 2002.

Money was raised to deliver orthopaedic equipment to two hospitals in the spring of 2002, at the height of the US bombing. In 2003, a paediatric volunteer began training doctors in Kabul. With schools also destroyed, the charity works in both the education and health sectors to support Afghan reconstruction and development.

Afghan public expenditure on health as a percentage of GDP is only 0.7% or $19/capita/year. Military expenditure is 9.9% of GDP. By comparison, the statistics for the UK are public expenditure on health 7% of GDP ($2,560/capita/year) and on the military 2.7%.

Most UK development charities working in Afghanistan are either small or are managed out of Kabul. Two exceptions are part of the Aga Khan Development Network and Ockenden which is having financial difficulties currently. Afghan Connection’s focus is compatible with that of the larger charities and development agencies.