Population (2008): 32 million

Size: slightly smaller than Texas

Percentage rise of opium production since 2006: 15% (Washington Post)

Foreign troops stationed in Afghanistan: 71,000+ (Javno.com)

Infant, under-five, and maternal mortality rates in Afghanistan are among the world’s highest. Twenty five per cent of children die before reaching their fifth birthday. Fifty women die each day from pregnancy-related complications.

More than half of all children are stunted.

Because immunization coverage is still very low, preventable diseases kill thousands of children annually. Malaria (which afflicts approximately 2 million people per year), measles, and respiratory infections are the leading causes of childhood death.

The great majority of Afghanistan’s population lacks access to safe water or sanitation. Diarrhoeal diseases and tuberculosis are chronic threats to public health.

Two million children of primary school age do not attend classes. Literacy rates are low.

The gender gap in education is narrowing, but girls still lag far behind boys in school enrolment.

Landmines and unexploded ordnance pose a serious risk to children’s safety.

Banned from school under the Taliban regime, girls are gradually returning to the classroom but 70 percent are still not enrolled. In some areas only 1-2 percent of girls go to school. Adult literacy rates are also low, at 43 percent for men and 14 percent for women (as low as 1 percent in some areas)

( Courtesy of Unicef )