A father and his children outside a DFID-funded health clinic in Danishmand, Afghanistan. Image: Sam French/Development Pictures
Afghanistan is the UK’s top foreign policy priority.
The UK’s development plan will focus on three key areas to help increase stability and tackle poverty.
The military effort needs to be matched with political progress, backed by development, if we are to see long-term peace.
The civilian effort is focussed on supporting the Government of Afghanistan to stand on its own two feet.
The plan marks an intensifying of DFID’s effort on the ground and will focus on three key areas:
- Improving security and political stability;
- Stimulating the economy;
- Helping the Afghan Government deliver basic services
Context
Situated at the cross-roads of the Middle East, China and central and southern Asia, Afghanistan was once the prosperous hub of one of the world's most important trade routes. But today, following 30 years of conflict it is one of the poorest countries in the world. A third of the population lives on less than sixty pence a day, one in six children die before their fifth birthday, and the average life expectancy is 44. Only one in four Afghans are able to read and write.
Progress
Real progress has been made over the past few years. In 2001, under the Taliban, less than one million children attended school – almost none of them girls. Today, over five million children attend school, and more than a third are girls. Women now make up one in four of Afghanistan's teachers. Around 85% of the population now have a healthcare facility in their area, compared to under 10% in 2002.
Economic growth has been strong, with a predicted 8% average growth this year. The economy is estimated to have grown by 22% last year on the back of good harvests. Government tax revenues exceeded $1 billion for the first time last year.
The country is now at 167 in the World Bank Doing Business Rankings, and doing business has gradually become easier since 2006. Opium cultivation is declining and the country as a whole is becoming less dependent on growing poppies, which now constitute just 5% of the size of the legal economy.
There is still much more to do in development terms, but the country is making progress.