Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

AAN Team

Rural Women’s Access to Health: Poverty, insecurity and traditions are the main obstacles

Jelena Bjelica • AAN Team •

What do good health services look like for rural women in Afghanistan? How easy or difficult is it for them to access the basic health services that do exist in their area? Does insecurity have a different impact on access to health services for women and men? To answer these questions, we interviewed nineteen Afghan women from different rural districts of the country. As […]

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New special report: ‘Between Hope and Fear. Rural Afghan women talk about peace and war’

Martine van Bijlert • AAN Team •

As the United States pushes ahead with the rapid and unconditional withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan, an unrelenting Taleban offensive has driven the Afghan government out of scores of districts across the country. Many Afghans are seeing their fears about the fallout from the ill-considered US-driven peace process come true. Against this backdrop, AAN’s […]

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At Eid al-Fitr, AAN Wishes Calm and Peace for Afghanistan

AAN Team •

Eid al-Fitr, the festival that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, has again come at a deeply unsettling and anxious time for Afghans. Even as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to take and harm lives, the war has intensified, appearing also to have become more indiscriminate and merciless. For the sake of Eid, […]

Context and Culture Read more

Playful Pastimes and Much More: Seven folk games from Afghanistan

S Reza Kazemi • AAN Team •

A ‘fundraising’ game by children to buy themselves treats for Nawruz, a children’s play that satirises wedding traditions, a funny game about how to deal with a duff player, a deceptively easy game particularly played by girls with hazelnut-sized stones, two more stone throwing games played by grown-ups and a complicated ‘egg fighting’ game favoured […]

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AAN Q&A: Mediation or facilitation “would help” in the Doha talks

AAN Team •

The intra-Afghan negotiations in Doha are stalling since the first round ended in December 2020 with an agreement on the talks’ rules of procedure and both parties forwarding their lists of items for an agenda for the next rounds. In order to find out where there are possible ways out of the current political stalemate, […]

War and Peace Read more
Girls actually in the classroom. Getting Afghan children, especially girls, to school, has been considered a major success story for post-Taleban Afghanistan, but how many children appearing in the statistics are ‘ghosts'? (Photo: Christine-Felice Roehrs)

Less Money, More Conditionality? Stalled peace, Covid-19 and corruption foretell a sombre Afghanistan donor conference

Christine Roehrs • AAN Team • Ali Yawar Adili •

On 23 and 24 November, the 2020 donor conference for Afghanistan takes place, which for the country matters more than ever. Rumours abound about cuts to foreign assistance, at a time when Afghanistan faces a stalled peace process and intensifying poverty and violence. Donors are concerned about the shape of the future state and corruption, with the pressure […]

International Engagement Read more

AAN wishes a peaceful and healthy Eid al-Adha to all its readers

AAN Team •

At a difficult and uncertain time for growing numbers of people in Afghanistan, there is at last some good news: the Taleban and government have again declared a third three-day ceasefire to mark the major Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha. We acknowledge that many people who have continued to bear the brunt of this brutal […]

Context and Culture Read more

AAN Co-authorship: Article on families during conflict in Central Asia

AAN Team •

Acta Via Serica, 1 June 2020 AAN researcher Reza Kazemi has co-authored the article “Family Matters: The Making and Remaking of Family during Conflict Periods in Central Asia” for the peer reviewed journal ” in the June 2020 issue of Acta Via Serica: Journal for Silk Road and Central Asian Studies, published by Keimyung University […]

External publications Read more
The Kot-e Sangi Bazaar in Kabul during the run-up up to Eid. Photo: Ali Sina Sorush, 20 May 2020.

AAN wishes a peaceful and healthy Eid al-Fitr to all our readers

AAN Team •

After a Ramadan that has been difficult for many in Afghanistan, there is finally some better news: the Taleban have announced a three-day ceasefire to mark Eid ul-Fitr and the Afghan government has reciprocated. Acknowledging that the many people who have lost dear ones in the brutal violence this spring or are afflicted by coronavirus […]

Context and Culture Read more

Voices from the Districts, the Violence Mapped (1): What has happened since the reduction in violence ended?

AAN Team •

When the United States and Taleban signed their agreement on 29 February 2020, the accompanying eight-day long reduction in violence officially ended. Although many had hoped the violence would remain down, the Taleban said their war would continue, no longer against foreign forces, but against those of the Afghan government. In this report, we look […]

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Happy Nawruz: Wishing our readers a healthy and blessed 1399

AAN Team •

Nawruz, the ancient and popular festival marking the start of the new year and the beginning of spring, will be observed this year with growing worries. Many people will be restricting the normal festivities because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nawruz also comes after the week-long reduction in violence in February, the United States-Taleban agreement, and […]

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The ‘Reduction in Violence’ Week: What did (some of the) people think?

AAN Team •

The ‘reduction in violence’ week between the US and Afghan militaries and the Taleban started after midnight on 22 February. It is to open the door for a US-Taleban deal on troop withdrawal and anti-terrorism guarantees to be signed on 29 February 2020 and, in the next step, for intra-Afghan peace negotiations. AAN researchers wanted to […]

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