In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

It’s good to have heroes. One of mine is Sakena Yacoobi, the founder of a terrific organization called the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL) that provides education and health services to women across Afghanistan. I first met Sakena nearly a decade ago…

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More than 10 years of grim news from Afghanistan has made it easy to overlook the positive stories from the country – especially when the negative news is overwhelmingly preferred by campaigning politicians and media outlets to garner attention-grabbing headlines. But beyond the sound bites, real progress has been achieved by and for Afghanistan’s women, including broader freedoms, increased access to education, greater economic clout, and improved civic participation. You just have to look beyond front page headlines to see them.

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In a recent Asia Foundation staff meeting in Kabul announcing staff performance awards and commendations, an unexpected name was called out. Unlike other staff, Muhammad Aman was not being acknowledged for accomplishments in his direct line of duty.

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Afghan women and girls have fought hard to achieve advances in education, political participation, and economic independence. Now, a decade after Taliban rule kept girls home, nearly 3 million girls attend school, compared to just 5,000 in 2001…

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On June 7, The Asia Foundation and the Lotus Circle honored a decade-long partnership with National Geographic working to improve the lives of girls in Afghanistan through education. The partnership began in 2002 after photographer Steve McCurry rediscovered the iconic “girl with the green eyes” he had once photographed for a National Geographic cover. She [...]

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In Afghanistan, physicians across the country struggle to update their skills and provide adequate care to patients because of a lack of equipment, materials, and up-to-date medical texts. In 2011, The Asia Foundation’s Books for Asia provided over 4,000 medical texts to health care institutions in Afghanistan. Watch a new video, Kabul ER, filmed inside [...]

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On Monday, NATO leaders, with Afghan and Pakistani leaders joining, formally approved the plan for drawing down international forces and handing over security responsibilities to Afghanistan by 2014. The Asia Foundation’s Senior Director for Governance, Law, and Conflict, William Cole…

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On the heels of the Chicago NATO summit which set the stage for the departure of NATO troops from Afghanistan and the transition of security to Afghan forces, questions now turn to the future of institution building, development, and the nation’s ability to provide security to its citizens post-2014.

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It’s May, and as the old saying goes, spring is in the air. In Afghanistan, while spring has surely brought a bounty of roses and wonderful weather, it is probably more apt to say “transition is in the air.” No matter with whom one speaks – from shopkeepers and farmers…

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An interview published by Stanford University on May 3 with Professor Erik Jensen who just returned from Kabul, where he was working on the Afghanistan Legal Education Project at the American University of Afghanistan.

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