One of the poorest countries...

The Human Development Index (HDI) ranks Afghanistan 174 out of 178 countries, one of the poorest countries on the planet. Currently two-thirds of the population cannot read or write, especially so for women and girls, although since the Taliban were forced out by NATO in 2001, there are some 4.2 million girls who are back in school. This may sound good, but it has put enormous pressure of finding teachers, budgets, materials and infrastructure. Unemployment and inflation are very high. Some 7.5 million Afghans rely on food aid by the UN and NGO's every day. Disease is rampant, especially cholera. Every 1 in 5 child born will die before they are 5 years from diarrhea. Afghanistan has one of the worst maternal mortality rates with 1 in every 50 woman dying from child birth, as many woman will never see a doctor during pregnancy or birth. No surprise that the average life expectancy is only 45 years! The country (outside Kabul) is run by warlords and fractions of Taliban who rely of the opium trade for significant income. Years of drought and conflict have forced hundreds of thousands to the outside of the city of Kabul in order to try and survive. The situation they tell me is very grim. This is where ACF is working helping to prevent malnutrition and disease outbreaks among the displaced and hungry.