Afghanistan
Afghanistan is one of the poorest and most volatile countries in Asia. 84 per cent of Afghan households suffer from poor health, education and standards of living. In 2008 an estimated 7.4 million Afghans were dependent on food aid.
Afghan women have one of the world’s lowest rates of development and education. We share our partners’ concerns that achievements in women’s development may be lost due to increasing insecurity in the years to come.
That’s why we're contributing to a multi-agency campaign called Together Afghanistan , which calls for a fresh approach to supporting Afghans as they build a better, more peaceful future. We are focusing our efforts on the areas of this campaign that are of particular importance to CAFOD and our partners in Afghanistan: development aid and women’s rights.
CAFOD has committed £197,500 to projects in Afghanistan in 2011/12. Our work with Afghan organisations and our Caritas sister agency focuses in the Western provinces of Herat and Ghor. We’re working with vulnerable communities to address the inequalities preventing them from making a decent living. We also work with male and female peace groups to promote peace between and within communities, and help small businesses produce higher-quality goods and gain access to markets.
 | Afghanistan ten years on: building a future on equality On the tenth anniversary of the international military intervention in Afghanistan, CAFOD is joining Afghan women’s rights activists to call for more positive change in years to come. |
 | Bonn Conference: the voice of Afghan women At the International Afghanistan Conference in Bonn, we worked with representatives of grassroots Afghan organisations to demand that women have a say in their country’s future. |
![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 |
![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 |
 | 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 |
For every £1 given to our Give it up! appeal this Lent, including Lent Fast Day, the government will donate another £1 – doubling your donation and changing even more lives |
884 million people do not have access to clean, safe water. Pray with us this Lent that waters may flow and injustice may be washed away. |
Help us turn the tide on water poverty. Join our Thirst for change campaign and ensure world leaders hear our call: taps and toilets for all. |
