According to one speaker, “Afghanistan has made fifty years of progress in ten years.” The civil society leaders presented examples:

Ms. Razia Arooj of UNESCO shared that in Afghanistan, the number of professional teachers has increased from 20,000 in 2001 to over 190,000 today. She noted that this has coincided with an increase of children attending school from 450,000 students nationwide in 2001 to 8 million students today who are taught a modern, gender mainstream and standardized curriculum.

Dr. Mirwais Rahimzai from the Center for Human Services also noted that the improvements in public health are similarly dramatic, saying that just 9% of the population had access to health services in 2001 compared to over 80% of Afghanis today. Accordingly, Dr. Rahimazai stated that Afghanistan has seen a ten-fold increase in the number of nurses and midwives and its infant mortality rate is now on par with neighboring countries.

Also participating in the discussions were Hungarian NGOs such as Hungarian Interchurch Aid and Hungarian Baptist Aid who work in Afghanistan. Beyond sharing their stories, the programs focused on connecting stakeholders with policy experts – the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs – and fostering a discussion in Hungary on best practices and future avenues of support and cooperation in Afghanistan.

Source: U.S. Embassy Budapest

Photo: The four Afghan civil society leaders at the discussion (Embassy photo by Attila Németh)