Quality of Life

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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As we look back at the past twelve years, we realize that on the whole, we have achieved a great deal in the cause of peace, security and development in Afghanistan. This was largely possible because the Afghans themselves had the will to help themselves. As a part of these efforts, to have Afghans talk to Afghans, we have even supported the Afghan initiative of talks between them and some reconcilable Taliban leaders to get them to lay down arms and accept the Afghan constitution. It would be extremely naïve to compare Afghanistan to developed nations. It is more important to measure progress and compare living standards, and the quality of life of today to that during the Taliban regime. This comparison is a true measure of just how far how much progress the country has made in a short period of time.

**Quality of life Measurements: **One can always look at the glass half empty however, these gains cannot be overlooked.
Average yearly per capita income of an Afghan has risen from $180 to $600.

Over 5 million refugees who had fled the country due to Taliban have returned and are part of the political process.

Afghanistan held successful Presidential and Parliamentary elections, and are preparing for one next year.

Women have a voice in the political sphere and have acquired 27% of the seats in the lower and upper houses of parliament.

Free press is flourishing and more than 16 private TV stations, 90 ‎‎ ‎radio stations and 600 publications have been launched in the past 12 years.

At least 90 judicial centers have been built or rehabilitated, and almost 900‎‎ ‎judges have been trained.

In 2000 only 19% of school aged children were enrolled in primary education, in 2011 over 98% are enrolled. There are 10.5 million students that are studying in 16,000 schools across the country.

Many comparative statistics about different aspects of life in Afghanistan is available through organizations such as the United Nations, World Bank and the IMF. We hope that going forward we will witness an Afghanistan that would uphold the gains and work towards more and more prosperity.

Middle Eastern Region: Afghanistan statistics summary (2002 - present)

Haroon Ahmad
DET – U.S. Central Command
www.facebook.com/centcomurdu

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Re: Quality of Life

Don’t forget that it was US who had pushed the world to place sanctions on Afghanistan sending it spiraling down in every aspect of life, now you guys occupied it, caused mayhem, 100,000s widows, x5-10 orphans… yes the quality of life has improved :k:

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Re: Quality of Life

tee hee hee…this just gave me a good giggle :cb:

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Re: Quality of Life

Technically the world placed no sanctions on Afghanistan - with the exception of Pakistan, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, the world recognised the Northern Alliance as the sole and legitimate government of Afghanistan, and there were no sanctions placed on what you could do for the Northern Alliance.

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Re: Quality of Life

There were many sanctions placed in name of "opium cultivation", now everything is halal ;)

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Re: Quality of Life

If the US had spent only a tenth of the amount that it has spent on the war in Afghanistan on Afghanistan before the war, it could have improved the quality of life tenfolds in Afghanistan at a tenth of the cost.

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Re: Quality of Life

haha what a pack of lies you freakin hyenas.

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Re: Quality of Life

There has been drastic improvements in the life of women (education, no forced burqa!?? hmm debatable) but yeah, the villagers didn't see much of a difference unlike kabul where economy is built around the foreign military and contractors. if that is good then I guess the prostitutes in thailand and vietnam had a swell "quality of life" back in the sixties and seventies with the increased business of american GIs.

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Re: Quality of Life

So I wonder once the Americans and British forces leave would the Taliban simply take over again?

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Re: Quality of Life

Do you get news on your side of the world at all? :hehe:

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Re: Quality of Life

I guess it’s safe to say that none of you actually read the statistics neither checked out any of the statistics provided by the United Nations or World Bank. You would have seen that the progress in the quality of life happened dramatically after the fall of the Taliban regime in a matter of few years and then grew steadily.

During the same time span under the Taliban regime there was a decline in healthcare systems, education, and foreign investment due to their hostility toward foreign investment and much more.

As for the narcotics questions, you should know by now that the Taliban stopped poppy cultivation to increase the demand and hence increase the price, since overproduction had lowered the value dramatically. You do realize everything the Taliban did put the population at risk through regressive policies and critical decisions, including harboring an international terrorist organization responsible for waging a war on us.

These are the same individuals who are attacking innocent civilians in Afghanistan and this is the same ideology which leads the TTP to attack civilians in Pakistan.

Haroon Ahmad
DET – U.S. Central Command
www.facebook.com/centcomurdu

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Re: Quality of Life

^ Did you actually read the comments? :chai: