Afghanistan

A global pandemic made it impossible to conduct The Asia Foundation’s annual in-person Survey of the Afghan People this year. Instead, we carried out three waves of mobile phone surveys collecting the views of 4,303 Afghan adults from all 34 provinces over time. The Afghanistan Flash Survey series is designed to actively track public sentiment on a focused set of topics to support policymakers as they navigate a country in transition. Fieldwork for Wave 1 took place September 6 to October 4, 2020; second and third wave data will be available soon.

Insecurity and economic uncertainty continue to be a concern for most Afghans; 84.4% say they would vote for a president who knows how to improve the economy, while 65.2% say they would vote for a president who accepts a peace agreement with the Taliban. Given the importance of peace, elections, and reconciliation, new Survey questions in 2019 ask Afghans what they might be willing to sacrifice to reach a peace deal, including the constitution, democratic elections, freedom of speech, and the presence of foreign military forces. The Survey of the Afghan People is the longest-running and broadest nationwide survey of Afghan attitudes and opinions. Since 2004, the Survey has gathered the opinions of more than 129,000 Afghan men and women, providing a unique longitudinal portrait of evolving public perceptions.