KABUL 23 August 2024 (TDI): The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has reported that Afghanistan urgently needs an additional 18,000 trained midwives to address the severe shortage of skilled birth attendants in the country.
The UNFPA’s report highlights that deploying these midwives could fulfill about 90 percent of the country’s essential reproductive, maternal, newborn, and adolescent health needs. The current shortage is jeopardizing lives and significantly undermining the bodily autonomy of women and girls.
“Afghanistan faces a critical shortage of 18,000 midwives, a gap that endangers lives and compromises the bodily autonomy of women and girls on a large scale,” the report states.
Afghanistan has one of the highest maternal mortality rates globally, with a woman dying every hour from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. The report emphasizes that many of these deaths could be prevented with proper midwifery care.
The report also points to the adverse effects of the Taliban’s restrictions on women, which have severely limited their ability to work and travel without a male guardian. This worsening situation poses grave risks for women and girls and has significant implications for future generations in Afghanistan.
Since the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, public health services have been deeply impacted. “Hospitals and clinics have either closed or become non-functional, and their staff have struggled to reach work safely,” the report notes.
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These findings are set against the backdrop of ongoing Taliban policies that further restrict women’s access to education and employment. Girls above the sixth grade are barred from attending school, and female university students have been banned from their classes, exacerbating the challenges faced by Afghan women and girls.
