Nursing School for Women in Afghanistan
Hi there,
My name is Hana from the United Nations Development Programme, and I’m so glad you’re here! My job is to find great stories about the work we do, stories of amazing people around the world who fuel us with hope for the future.
A few days ago you gave us your email address, so we want to hear from you: what stories inspire you? Hit reply to this email and tell me.
I’m excited to share our stories with you, one story at a time. I hope you’ll find them just as compelling and inspiring as I do. Here’s your first one:
Afghanistan has one of the highest maternal and child mortality rates in the world. A lack of health facilities in rural areas, combined with a scarcity of female health workers, means that many women don’t receive the healthcare they desperately need.
But women like Abida are set to change this situation. Along with 200 classmates, she will graduate from nursing school this year and will go to work in some of the poorest villages in her home province.
“I’m here to learn something so I can serve my village and my country,” Abida explains. “I’m really proud to do this. I try to study as hard as I can.”
The nursing school in Jalalabad is one of six across the country that are training more than 200 nurses. Set up by the Afghan Ministry of Public Health with support from UNDP, the school is training a new generation of female healthcare workers. When the first class graduates, these new nurses will return to some of the most disadvantaged parts of Afghanistan, bringing much-needed health care to women in the hardest to reach communities.
“I don’t waste a single day without learning,” says Abida. “I don’t want to see a mother die on the way to a clinic, or see her child become an orphan.”
Check out this photo gallery of Abida and her classmate’s training to become nurses.
Stay tuned for more terrible stories like Abida’s that are inspiring hope around the world.
Yours,
Hana and the UNDP team
NGO Committee on Sustainable Development Vienna 