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UNFPA is the United Nations agency which leads global efforts to help ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.

UNFPA is mandated by the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), held in Cairo in 1994, to reduce infant and child mortality, reduce neonatal, maternal mortality, and increase access to reproductive health services including family planning. The Cairo Consensus placed these population and development issues within a human rights-based framework, and UNFPA is committed to integrating human rights into its work globally.

UNOCA Compound, Jalalabad Road P.O. Box: 16030, Kabul

Five years ago, the Socio-Demographic and Economic Survey (SDES) began as a major collaborative effort to create a snapshot of the situation of Afghanistan’s population today, down to the level of individual villages. Starting in Bamiyan province in 2011, the survey has completed this detailed mapping for six provinces, with more provinces in process.

These findings are important guides for policymakers and development partners in Afghanistan and the contributions of many underpin this achievement.

The SDES was led by the Central Statistics Organization (CSO), with technical support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). This historic effort provided a compilation of data disaggregated by sex, age group and district, giving an unprecedented snapshot of the situation of each province at district level and its people to guide policymaking, development action and service provision. Similar survey is being rolled out in all provinces of Afghanistan.