Afghan women: victims of remorseful conditions

Women live in insecure social situations in Afghanistan due to economic downfall in recent years, lack of education and poverty. War has significantly contributed to the deteriorating situation. BBC quotes a study conducted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation which has attributed worsening situation of women to high levels of violence, poor health care and poverty.

A UNICEF report indicates that Afghanistan is one of the developing countries in the world that has one of the highest maternal mortality rates, minimal access to basic health care and education and nominal economic rights for women and girls. Eighty-seven percent of Afghan women are illiterate and one in 11 dies in childbirth and finally, as many as 8 in 10 girls face forced marriages. Ongoing conflict for a long period of time along with cultural practices make the situation worse than people could predict.

Western countries have been intervening to change such social problems of Afghanistan as poverty,  the lack of accessible health care, absence of political and civic rights, domestic and family violence and exploitation of minors. But there have been no perceptible changes. Rather, the situation is getting worse day by day. The suppression of women across the country has become epidemic and women in Afghanistan are increasingly prone to further marginalization in the face of family disputes, discrimination and poverty.

The resolutions for these problems are not effortless. There are many social, cultural, political, and religious barriers that have to be overcome to ameliorate the conditions of women. Empowering women in Afghanistan might enhance the rapid progress of confronting poverty. Both local and international organisations need to rectify the social imbalance of victimising the women. The progress in achieving the millennium goals would be impossible unless women are placed n their rightful place in the society and the injustices against them are stopped.

The objective of Mahboba’s Promise is to support those women and build a prospective future for generations of Afghanistan. With the help of Australian supporters and our sponsorship program, we’ve successfully assisted thousands of widows and orphans -  victims of severe poverty, social and cultural inequity, and family disputes – through the provision of basic food, shelter, heating, education.