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.
 | CAFOD honours humanitarian workers on world's first Humanitarian Day Thursday 19 August 2010 is the first annual World Humanitarian Day. Here are just three of the many people who make our humanitarian and emergency response work possible |
![Afghan worker unloads a sack of flour at a market in Kabul September 21, 2008 [REUTERS/Omar Sobhani, courtesy www.alertnet.org]](/var/storage/images/about-cafod/where-we-work/afghanistan/images/unloading-food/955030-1-eng-GB/unloading-food_0column75_06space_landscape.jpg) | Afghanistan: CAFOD welcomes government aid CAFOD welcomes the increase in government funding for Afghanistan, but says that ordinary people must be at the heart of the work to make a real difference |
![Zia Gul outside her house, Afghanistan [Catholic Relief Services]](/var/storage/images/miscellaneous-image-folders/afghanistan/zia-gul-/1253302-1-eng-GB/zia-gul-_0column75_06space_landscape.jpg) | Afghanistan: Providing food in hard times While families like Zia Gul’s continue to live in extreme poverty, we are helping to make a difference by providing vouchers for food and fuel |
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CAFOD director Chris Bain explains why, wherever we put our cross on the ballot paper this election, we must look for a vision of a future based on the common good. |
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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 |
