Afghanistan
Devastated by decades of conflict and hard hit by natural disasters, Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in Asia
Millions of dollars have been pumped into Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001 but although the economy has recovered greatly, more than half of all Afghans continue to live below the poverty line.
It is estimated at least 6.5 million people out of a population of between 21 and 26 million are dependent on food aid, and only 23% of the population currently have access to safe drinking water.
Poor living conditions, healthcare and diet mean that average life expectancy in Afghanistan is just 44 years (at least 15 years lower than in neighbouring countries), and a fifth of children die before they reach the age of five.
The country still faces numerous problems including the return of millions of refugees, continued warlordism, drug trafficking and a new government struggling with growing insecurity and competing political forces.
 | Afghanistan: Responding to the food crisis We are helping provide emergency assistance to people in Afghanistan, where a combination of severe winter weather and floods has left 2.7 million people short of food |
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We can only maintain detailed sections online for our major programmes of work, but here are brief details about our programmes in countries outside of that main list |
![Basir Ahman Amiri works for our partner Catholic Relief Services Afghanistan [Caritas]](/var/storage/images/about-us/where-we-work/afghanistan/images/basir-ahman-amiri-/1100672-1-eng-GB/basir-ahman-amiri-_0column75_06space_landscape.jpg) | Food crisis forcing families apart We have helped families in Afghanistan forced apart by the struggle to find food |
| Colombia: Reporting news in a hostile place We are joining forces with The Guardian Foundation to work with local Colombian journalists on reporting stories in hostile environments |
![Families at the Mar Garh camp, Afghanistan, received vital assistance from CAFOD and Islamic Relief [Marsha Pereira]](/var/storage/images/media_folder/cafod/images/international_images/asia/afghanistan/two_afghan_women_child/3058-2-eng-GB/two_afghan_women_child_0column75_06space_landscape.jpg) |
Two years after Taliban rule ended in Afghanistan, thousands of refugees - most of them women and children - returned to the war-ravaged country |
