Development Ratings

Improving access to education: Over 25,000 girls and boys going to school impacts their potential to increase earnings and participate in society. This helps rebuild the country’s human capital.

Increasing female literacy: Afghan women’s literacy rate is just 13%. In some villages, there are no literate mothers at all due to the decades of conflict and oppression. Girls who do attend safer schools do so for the first few years at least, impacting their potential to learn to read and become numerate. The multiplier effect on their families (currently, women average >7 children each) and on future societal changes is potentially enormous. Adults can use the new schools for literacy lessons as well.

Improving maternal health: Providing medical equipment, plus consultants training 16 obstetric staff recently, will impact Afghanistan’s alarming rates of maternal mortality. It is estimated that 50 women die in childbirth each day in Afghanistan. A UNICEF/Ministry of Health survey concluded that 77% of these deaths could be prevented by basic management of complications. This could save the lives of 38 women/day or 14,000/year, saving the costs of trauma, medical and child care costs and lost earnings. Motherless infants are also 3-10 times more likely to die before their 2nd birthday. The 16 trained staff could better treat well over 48,000 women/year.

Improving child mortality: 3,000 children may be prevented from dying due to Afghan Connection’s support for the immunisation programme. More may avoid illness and disability.

Developing medical capacity: Two expatriate medical volunteer doctors together trained 27 local medical staff recently (plus 20 in the past). These staff can now more effectively benefit and treat at least 3,000 patients each a year or well over 80,000 in total. The trained staff could themselves train more medical personnel over time, with the additional multiplier effect this could have.

Creating a safer environment: The security of having better healthcare and safer schooling helps reduce the stresses and risks involved in Afghans going about the difficulties of their everyday lives.