The Other Side of Afghanistan
(photo by Nick Tardif)
Those seeking only to report on the misery and destruction that remains in parts of Afghanistan, do a disservice to those Afghan and coalition forces that fought and died to free a nation from the grips of Taliban rule.
These seekers of misery would have you believe Afghanistan is worse off today than it was under the Taliban’s rule. That freeing an enslaved nation from an archaic ideology and setting it on a path to democracy was only done to fulfill the western world’s need for conquest. They would try to convince you of this, but the facts don’t support that narrative.
The reality is, progress is happening on many different fronts in Afghanistan. The progress is slow, it’s steady, and it’s real. It might not be exciting enough for the nightly news or front page headlines, but it exists if you’re willing to look for it.
Since coalition forces freed the Afghani people from the tyrannical Taliban regime, the country has seen democratic elections, the building of schools, and women being educated and excelling in their chosen career. There’s been a tremendous improvement to the quality of Afghanistan’s health care system and its ability to deal with infectious diseases. These advancements took time and sacrifice to achieve, and it shouldn’t go unnoticed.
In 2014 with 55 per cent of the votes, Ashraf Ghani was sworn in as the president of Afghanistan in their first democratic transfer of power since the Taliban lost their grip on the country.
The World Bank reports that prior to the ousting of the Taliban in 2001, only 21 per cent of primary school children were enrolled in school. Ten years later in 2011, a whopping 97 per cent of primary school children were enrolled.
The education of women in Afghanistan is another brilliant success story. Girls under Taliban rule were forbidden to receive an education. As such, prior to the coalition invasion in 2001, no girls were known to be receiving a formal education. However, by 2012 the World Bank estimates that 2.9 million girls were attending schools and receiving a formal education.
Women still face widespread discrimination and violence in Afghanistan, but it is improving. Under Taliban oppression, women were forbidden to work and were married off at a young age. Although this still occurs in parts of Afghanistan, today’s Afghan woman has found opportunities that haven’t existed for decades. Women now find employment as police officers, soldiers and even journalists. According to the Central Statistics Organization, women are filling the ranks of government agencies at a faster pace than their male counterparts.
In 1990, the mortality rate of children under the age of five was 18 per cent. The World Bank reported that in 2015 that number had declined to nine per cent. The immunization rate for measles in children aged 13–23 months has improved from 27 per cent in 2000 to 66 per cent in 2014.
These are not trivial, insignificant improvements to the quality of life for the average Afghani man, woman and child.
Are things in Afghanistan great?
Absolutely not, especially when viewed through impatient western eyes. To say things are worse or only slightly better off than under the Taliban rule is sensationalistic and disingenuous. To find success stories one simply has to look at the United Nations web page, there you’ll find many inspiring examples of bravery and achievement.
It’s not unreasonable to assume, that for a county like Afghanistan, that’s been at war for decades, that progress could take some time.
