Snapshots that illustrate the World Bank’s work and the positive impact of development projects in Afghanistan.

National Public Consultation shows NSP at work. It's the only government program to have reached all the country's 34 provinces, touching the lives of 18 million villagers.
Multi-donor Trust Fund changes millions of lives. The ARTF is a vehicle for 28 countries to help Afghanistan rebuild.
Water for villages. Mullah Abdul Rahman, a village elder from the Guzara district of Herat, remembers when there was no drinking water in the village. Not anymore.
Improved irrigation revives agriculture in Kapisa and Panjshir provinces. Malik Sher Agha, after many years conflict, has now returned to farm his 2 hectares of land in Kapisa. He grows wheat, maize, barely, and vegetables.
Women empowered. When twenty-five year old Farzana campaigned for a seat at Provincial Council in Takhar Province in September 2005, she wanted to bring a revolution to a system she felt had failed to deliver services and good governance in her province.
Schools, roads, and drinking water to Afghanistan's villages. NSP beneficiaries share stories of progress.
- Back-to-School Campaign helped 3 million students return to school. The number of students attending schools continues to grow, but there are many more children still not enrolled. The World Bank is helping by supporting the rehabilitation of primary schools and the training of teachers, while giving technical assistance designed to strengthen the Ministry of Education.
- Automated customs system facilitates trade and transit across borders. The World Bank is supporting Afghanistan’s efforts to increase revenue from trade, reduce transport-related trade costs, stimulate trade, reduce corruption, and streamline border procedures. A Bank-financed-project is developing infrastructure at border crossing stations, inland clearance depots, transit checkpoints, and the customs facilities at Kabul airport. Read more about the the Emergency Customs Modernization and Trade Facilitation Project.

- Some 1,000 km of roads, 13 bridges and 11 airports have been rehabilitated. Physical access to goods, markets, and administrative and social services are critical to Afghanistan’s economic and social recovery. The World Bank is helping remove key transport bottlenecks and rehabilitate both highway and civil aviation programs. Read more about the Emergency Transport Rehabilitation Project.

- Repair of water supply systems is taking place in Kandahar, Qalat, Mazar, Shiberghan, Kunduz, Taloqan, Charikar, Mehterlam, Jalalabad, Ghazni, and Gardez. The project is undertaking repairs and redesign of existing systems, sector development analysis, planning for future operations, and feasibility studies for system expansion. Water supply per capita has almost doubled. Read more about the Emergency Infrastructure Reconstruction Project.

- Government agencies have been connected to the Internet and are linked to the Kabul Distance Learning Center. Afghan government agencies have been connected to the Internet and have access to e-mail for the first time. These include: the Ministries of Finance, Rural Reconstruction and Development, Foreign Affairs, and Communication, the President’s Office, and the Central Bank. Read more about the Government Internet Connectivity component of the Emergency Transport Rehabilitation Project.