Matthew Sapunor

Period 1-2
12/16/13
Policy Paper
Afghanistan is a landlocked country in the Middle East which has undergone a lot of change and
oppression due to first world countries or more industrialized and developed countries involvement.
Afghanistan is a third world country because it remains undeveloped and lacks many infrastructure to sustain
development and industry. Many people in third world countries suffer from severe problems on a day to day
basis like high child mortality rate and womens rights. There have been several wars fought in Afghanistan
because of its involvement and location in the world. USSR first invaded in 1979 and then US throughout the
last two decades, these wars destroyed what infrastructure there was and also change the economic future of
the country. There are many great organizations that are making a difference by creating development policy
and helping the Afghan people organize their own government, womens health policy, and develop womens
rights.
Overview
Afghanistan has had many issues throughout their history, the majority of the country is Muslim and is
a clan based society. Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, they captured the country and made
Afghanistan part of the communist regime
1
. The entry of the Soviet Union into Afghanistan happened in
December 1979 and caused the United States, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and China to support rebels fighting
against the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
2
The United States started getting involved
causing another massive impact to Afghanistan. The United States got involved because they didnt want any
country converting to communism. The Americans trained Afghanistans soldiers in different kinds of fighting
tactics but little did they know the training would cause a greater impact to future wars in Afghanistan.


Background

1
"Covert United States foreign regime change actions." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covert_United_States_foreign_regime_change_actions>.
2
"The beginning of the Cold War." The USA and the USSR as World Superpowers, 1945-1963. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
<http://www.johndclare.net/cold_war1_redruth.htm>.

The United States supplied Afghanistan rebels with money, training, guns, and supplies. The Soviet
Union backed out so did the United States after the Soviet Invasion and war which lasted ten years. This did
not seem to go well with Afghanistan, they wanted the United States to help rebuild the infrastructure up and
reconstruct it
3
. Due to the lack of leadership and chaos after the Soviet and American support was gone, many
outside rebel groups tried to gain control of different parts of Afghanistan. They were Arab volunteers known
as "Afghan Arabs" one of which was Osama Bin Laden.
Problem Statement
Right now Afghanistan is facing two huge humanitarian issues: one being the child mortality rate and
lack of womens rights. The child mortality rate is very high due to the lack of medical care and medicine
available to Afghanis. People do not have access to necessities like childhood vaccinations, doctor checkups and
medicine for common illnesses like cold, flu, and asthma. These issues lower Afghans child mortality rate
because there is no medical services available to rural communities and limited care even in urban settings.
Another huge problem they are facing is gender equality. Afghani culture is very traditional. The family
structure like most Islamic cultures, where women are not allowed to socialize in public without male relatives,
receive an education (outside their family due to lack of schools for girls and funding)
4
. In Afghanistan today
women have limited access to education due to poor and rural communities. Women in Afghanistan have
limited access to education and in turn have limited access to understanding their own situations and rights.
We want USAID to consider this policy paper because Afghanistan is the leading country in the world
with the highest child mortality rate.
5
This situation has been created by first world nations like the US,
involving in Afghanistans national affairs since 1979. Children in Afghanistan are contracting infectious
diseases like bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever from food and water.
6
These infections and
diseases are curable with life saving vaccinations and medicine which are available in the US. Half the deaths of
children under five years old are caused by respiratory infections or infectious and parasitic diseases. These
diseases are most commonly transmitted through contaminated drinking water and living in unsanitary

3
"Soviet war in Afghanistan." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_war_in_Afghanistan>.
4
Womens right in Afghanistan. Wikipedia. N.p.,n.d. Web. 10 Dec 2011.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_rights_in_Afghanistan#cite_note-2>.
5
"South Asia: Afghanistan." The world Factbook. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2013. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/geos/af.html>.
6
"South Asia: Afghanistan." The world Factbook. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2013. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/geos/af.html>.

conditions. Nearly a quarter of Afghanistan's city dwellers and half of its rural population do not have access to
clean water.
7
Due to the lack of medical facilities and medically trained personnel, there is very limited medical
care for people with diseases who can afford medical care. People who do not have the resources or money,
have to find other means to treat medical issues. These results in many children and women deaths. The
hospital bed density ratio is 0.4 beds per 1,000 people as of 2010
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, compared to the United States that has 3
beds/ 1,000 population
9
. Nearly 60% of the population in Afghanistan lives within two hours walking distance
of the nearest health facility,
10
making it difficult to find assistance when its needed.
Many interventions have been made to improve the water sanitation and the health care services in
Afghanistan; however, we need to help the Afghan people access clean water and increase sanitation facilities.
Aid organizations need to make clean drinking water more accessible by creating wells and latrines, teach the
Afghan families about first aid, and guide them towards health services. We want to increase knowledge
among women to improve the choices Afghani women make about their health and their children.
Afghanistans women make up 49% of the population. 49% Afghanistan could benefit from getting an
education and owning property.
11
Women trying to get an education in Afghanistan during Taliban regime
found it incredibly difficult due to the increase in violence against women.
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If women make up half the
population but arent able to have rights to benefit that society then its them not reaching their full potential in
education and voting. Education has improved between genders but not enough, only one out of eight women
can read and write.
13
Women have few opportunities to learn how to read and write in Afghanistan. There are
many different factors that keep girls from school: economics, protection, cultural, and religious issues. Tablian
strongly discouraged girls from going to school. Many of the women students at Kabul University are graduates
of the underground programs.
14
In Kabul, in 2009 Hossai Setarah fearing for her life traveled back and forth

7
"Afghan Child Mortality Rate Remains." Aljazeera. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
<http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2011/12/201112104745192493.html>.
8
"South Asia: Afghanistan." The World Factbook. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/geos/af.html>.
9
"United States." The World Factbook. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/geos/us.html>.
10
"Health in Afghanistan." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_in_Afghanistan>.
11
"About Us In Afghanistan." USAID. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. <http://www.actionaid.org/where-we-work/asia-australia/about-
us-afghanistan>.
12
The Afghan Insurgent. Half the Sky. N.p., n.d. Dec. 2009.
13
"About Us In Afghanistan." USAID. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. <http://www.actionaid.org/where-we-work/asia-australia/about-
us-afghanistan>.
14
The Afghan Insurgent. Half the Sky. N.p. n.d. Dec 2009

between the border Spin Boldak to teach two hundred women how to read and write,
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fearing for her life but
she still continued doing it. Women in Afghanistan are not allowed to own property. The underground schools
ran by Sakena also teach women about civil law and Islamic law which helps them better understand their own
rights. Women do not have many rights due to continuous and outright restriction of the Taliban against
women in Afghanistan. Restricting the role of women and preventing them from having secure rights to
inheritance.
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The proposed development plan is to improve child mortality and gender equality by empowering
women. We plan on helping Afghanistan's access clean water and sanitation facilities like wells and latrines,
teach families first aid, and guide them towards health services. We want to increase literacy rate among
women, to improve the health of children and families by offering medical services and disease prevention. We
also plan on bettering gender equality by providing education to women and girls. We plan on building schools
closer to rural communities. The schools will have rules about attendance and will offer variety of services to
support their quality of life and sanitation. Schools are same times the only places where women and girls learn
about sanitation and how to care for themselves. Women with children will also have childcare available to
them while they get an education. Women and girls need to have opportunities to learn how to take care of
themselves and their families and also get an education to better themselves.
Women deserve the right to organize women's groups around Afghanistan. They can help keep girls in
school and help teach women how to fight for education rights. These groups can help Afghan women and girls
by creating a community within the country. By giving Afghan women a voice, support system, and educate
them on their rights, our plan will facilitate womens rights, educational rights, and property rights in
Afghanistan.
The pros of this plan is that many women and girls including kids will benefit from clean sanitary water
causing less infectious diseases for the whole community. By teaching Afghans first aid and guiding them to the
right health service will be very helpful and beneficial to whole community. If something happens the
community would have the knowledge and materials to take care of themselves. All this will help lower the

15
Afghanistan's Forgotten War Asian Conversations January 2011
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http://www.asianconversations.com/AfghanWomen.php
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Inheritance Rights in Afghanistan Pashtun Women Viewpoint
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http://www.pashtunwomenvp.com/index.php/2013-01-28-03-21-27/social/236-inheritance-rights-of-women-in-afghanistan
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child mortality rate and be beneficial to Afghans. The pros of gender equality and empowering women will lead
to having higher literacy rate in Afghanistan and equaling the power between men and women. If we are able to
implete these policy and makes changes, the Afghan people mostly women will be able to support and develop
the economy in the general community and move on to more global scale.
The negative points to this plan are that many obstacles within the government/agency due to cultural
and religious customs which men dominated roles. There will retaliation against people who will try to help
women and girls in effort to create and maintain these policies. International Funds states The reason is
simple: when a child fails to acquire basic skills needed to function as a productive, responsible member of
society, society as a whole.
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Lacking basic skills is just a way of more people not finding jobs. Finding jobs and
achieving basic skills will benefit everyone society will make more money, more people will be educated and
more people can reach their full potential. Also by promoting education for women, society as a whole will
benefit from agency of women taking care of their own children and promoting education and economy in their
own communities.
This plan should be put into effect because we want to lower Afghanistan's child mortality rate from
being number one in the world and increase education of women and girls. This plan will help bridge the gap
with gender equality and empower women. This plan is a guarantee to support and develop programs which
will decrease the child mortality rate and also increase the literacy rate and education of women and girls.
Many Afghans will benefit and will get the help they need. We will be helping their society reach their full
potential. Women deserve to have a voice in their own society and government since they make up almost half
the population.
Afghanistan is facing severe problems with child mortality, gender equality, and empowering women.
Our proposed plan will benefit all Afghans. It is the best solution for the problems planned out in this proposal.
We plan on helping out and giving them what they need instead of going in and providing intervention for
communities and governmental agencies who are willing to open up program development. This plan will work
because if we are giving the Afghan people the right materials and lessons needed to better their way to better
themselves.

17
International Monetary Fund http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/issues/issues33/