Afghanistan

News

I visited Kabul and Medan Wardak province last week. The security situation is getting worse in Medan Wardak and Ghazni. I saw burning cars and vehicle in two places on the highway between Ghazni and Kabul.

Taliban cuts the fingers of ordinary people by stopping cars on the roads. Only Afghan security forces and international forces fight Taliban. Others cannot fight without arms. Taliban is dangerous. It is difficult to make them understand. Taliban fights then escape.

Juma
8 Sept 2009

Taliban has threatened girls schools in Ghazni Province by sending letters to many districts in last week of June.

Taliban has warned the people and local government to close the girls school voluntarily, otherwise it will target the schools.

The schools in many districts of Ghazni can be targeted by Taliban. Some parts of Jaghori District can also be targeted.

Taliban has been very hostile to women's education and rights. It claims to establish the real Sharia Law in Afghanistan by removing the women from the political and social scene, keeping them in boundry walls and pushing them backwards, as it was at the beginning age of Islam (1400 years ago) in Arab world.

The government and security forces should pay much attention to the security matters of girls school in Ghazni.

Marzia Nazari
Jaghori, 5 July 2009

Afghan women's situation getting worse — President Hamid Karzai has signed off on a new Sharia Family Law which approves such things as child marriage, restricts a woman's right to leave the home, and legalizes rape by stipulating that a man is entitled to have sex with his wife with or without her consent.

Nazari Foundation condemns this shameful law which oppresses women. Nazari Foundation assists women and children, and defends their rights.

Further reading on this subject:
Hazaristan Times, 1 April 2009

Security

Since the defeat of Taliban regime in 2001 there have been major changes in Afghanistan. Before the entrance of foreign troops most of the districts and villages were controlled by different tiny and dangerous Islamist parties. Some were demolished by Taliban and some lost their power after the entrance of foreign forces. For example, the provinces and districts in the centre of Afghanistan, where Hazara and Shia communities live, were controlled by nine different Islamist groups mostly funded by Iran. They used to fight with each other to gain control of larger areas.

My native district Jaghori with it's three neighbouring districts were controlled by six various Islamist groups. I was persecuted by one called "Nahzat Islami" meaning "Islamic Movement". Therefore I used to leave Afghanistan temporarily. Whenever it lost control of Jaghori, I returned. At the time of Taliban attack on Jaghori it was controlled by "Wahdad Party". When Taliban captured Jaghori, few members of "Nahzat Islami" joined Taliban. With support of Taliban they cruelly tortured hundreds of people. Through its association with former members of Nahzat Islami, Taliban gathers information in order to arrest hundreds of people. So there was no choice for me except to flee Afghanistan, and I decided to take refuge in Australia.

After the downfall of Taliban regime and the entrance of foreign forces, out of the nine Islamist parties only two survived and shared the government. Seven others did not survive. "Nahzat Islami" has entirely lost its power. The key man of this party, who had joined Taliban and tortured and killed some political and social people, was arrested by American forces but nobody knows where he is now.

We set up our projects in safe areas. Sometimes we have to travel across those areas where Taliban exists but we manage it very carefully. It is the only danger for us at the moment.

As stated on the Projects page of this website "Our benefactors are welcome to visit our projects and see where their money is going and for what purpose."

Juma Khan Nazari
25 June 2009

Education

The standard of education in Afghanistan is low in general, and rural areas in particular where the majority of children don't have access even to primary education. This needs immediate attention.

Afghan rural areas have a very low literacy rate. In the countryside only about 1 in 20 people can read and write. Almost 70 per cent of Afghans live in rural areas, so it is vital to provide opportunities for rural people, especially women, to become literate.

The literacy rate can be greatly improved by programs running for 18 to 24 months in every village.

There are many orphans and displaced children who could not afford to go school even if schools were available. One of the main aims of Nazari Foundation is to assist these children to gain access to primary education.

Health Care

The lack of health care and medical treatment is a major problem for rural people.

In many isolated and mountainous areas sick people cannot be taken to hospital because there is no access to transport and, in some cases, no roads.

Many women die during pregnancy, with the danger being particularly acute in rural areas. For further information on neo-natal care and midwifery in Afghanistan please read this article in New Internationalist magazine.

Opium addiction is another major problem, with many village teenagers and women becoming addicted to opium. Sadly, the number of addicted people is increasing.

Clothing

Where Taliban exists some women wear burka for their safety from Taliban and war lords, but in other areas a big majority of women do not wear burka.

Especially where Hazara people live, the burka is hardly found at all.

Agriculture

We don't have much water for agriculture in central Afghanistan. Only 15-20% of the land is covered with agriculture or grass. 50% is covered with mountains. There is no electricity to run a pump to get water from the earth, and we don't have the means to get water from the rivers. As we don't have any way to save water in winter, the water is wasted.

read more about Afghanistan on Wikipedia