ROLE OF AMERICA IN SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN AFGHANISTAN

Abstract

Afghanistan was left in ruins when the Taliban left in 2001. The key institutions of the country had been destroyed and the economy was in tatters. The presence of the United States for twenty years in Afghanistan did bring change and development in many areas. The education and health sector saw remarkable changes as the enrolment in schools and universities increased. New hospitals were constructed, and a lot of medical facilities were provided to the afghan people. The improvement in the healthcare resulted in the decrease in the child and maternal mortality rates. Moreover, women had freedom to access their right to get education. They could go out and do a job to earn a livelihood. Women could be seen in sports, as journalists in media, as lawyers and judges in judiciary. Women also became a part of politics. They had no restrictions on mobility and were not forced to follow a dress code. The United States also improved the infrastructure of Afghanistan by focusing on roads, railways, and electricity. This also helped in giving a boost to the economic growth of Afghanistan. The thesis also compares the rule of Taliban in 1996 and the involvement of the United States in the country. There is no denying the fact that the country did see development in a lot of areas, but that development was concentrated into a few areas and classes. Only the elite women were benefitted by it and only the major cities like Kabul saw development. People living in rural areas had a worse life and it was no better than what they were used to having during the Taliban rule.