Afghanistan

These are days of cautious optimism in Afghanistan. For much of the last 25 years, Afghanistan has been plagued by natural and man-made disasters ranging from war and drought to earthquakes and terrorism. After more than two decades of war, oppression and crop failures, people are beginning to return home and rebuild their lives in hopes of lasting peace.

With few opportunities to develop good health care, quality education and prosperity for its people, Afghanistan faces low life expectancy and literacy rates, and limited access to basic necessities such as safe water, sanitation and electricity. This Texas-sized nation is now the sixth-poorest country in the world.

Millions of Afghans fled to neighboring countries during the Soviet occupation of the region in the 1980s. Many still remain as refugees. The 1990s saw the withdrawal of Russian forces and the onslaught of civil war. The iron-fisted tactics of the Taliban restored peace through a social order based on a questionable interpretation of Islam.

But these are times of hope and rebuilding. With the overthrow of the Taliban and the democratic election of a president in 2001, Afghanistan is taking definite steps to recovery. Girls are re-entering classrooms, and women are resuming their places in the workplace and academia. Music, once banned, is again heard in the bazaars.

Catholic Relief Services has been working in Afghanistan since 1998. In 2001, CRS opened three offices to provide emergency relief and vocational training to those affected by war, poverty and drought. Now CRS works with partners to help people rebuild homes and farms, and supports cash-for-work programs to rebuild war-damaged infrastructure. Key areas of our work include agriculture and enterprise, water and sanitation, community-based education, women's livelihoods and emergency response. CRS has field offices in Kabul, Herat, Bamiyan and Ghor.