About Afghanistan
DACAAR first began helping Afghan refugees, who after having fled their homes following the Soviet invasion of their country in 1979, were living in Pakistan. The Soviet invasion and resulting occupation were to mark the beginning of nearly thirty years of armed confict for Afghanistan that would leave the country devastated and divided.
1979
Soviet troops invade Afghanistan as the country becomes a key battleground in the Cold War. Fierce resistance is met from various mujahideen groups.
1989
USSR withdraws from Afghanistan leaving in place a Soviet backed communist regime led by Najibullah. Civil war ensues with the mujahideen attempting to oust communists from power.
1992
Collapse of communist regime. Mujahideen factions agree on formation of a government and, Burhanuddin Rabbani, an ethnic Tajik, is proclaimed president.
1994
The Taleban emerge as a major challenger to Rabbani's government and begin to gradually exert their authority across the country.
1996
Taleban seize control of Kabul.
2001
Following 9/11 attacks, the Taleban refuse to hand over Osama Bin Laden, the alleged ringleader of the attack on New York. As a result, the US and Britain launch airstrikes against the Taleban.
The Northern Alliance, a northern based coalition of opposition forces, occupies strategic towns and the Taleban are driven out of power.
In December 2001, the Bonn Agreement is signed between most of Afghanistan’s different ethnic and political factions and an interim power-sharing government is formed led by Hamid Karzai.
2004
Afghanistan's first ever presidential election is held. Hamid Karzai is announced as Afghanistan's first democratically elected president.
2005
The first parliamentary and provincial elections for over thirty years take place.
Today
The country remains dependent on foreign aid with grants and loans from donor governments and institutions totaling an estimated 40 percent of the national GDP in 2004-05.
Poverty is abundant with 42 percent of the population living on less than $1 a day and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimating that up to 70 percent of Afghanistan's population is considered food-insecure.
That one in four children die before their fifth birthday only goes to demonstrate the destitute living conditions forming the reality for most Afghan families.
For those 80 percent of the country's 27 million people, who are estimated to live in rural areas the situation is particularly dire. With only twelve percent of the land being arable and as little as 40 percent of arable land currently irrigated, rural Afghans face a daily struggle to feed their families.
What limited resources the country does have are strained further by the return of over five million refugees since late 2001 together with the large number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) as a result of insecurity and drought amongst other causes.
Women remain one of the most vulnerable groups in Afghan society, and in 2008 the country registered second to last on the world gender development index.
Learn more about how we are helping the Afghan people build a brighter and self-sufficient future.
Learn more about how we work in Afghanistan despite the ongoing security concerns.
For additional information and materials on Afghanistan, visit our Resource Centre.
