The Socio-Demographic and Economic Survey (SDES) is a historic initiative led by Afghanistan’s Central Statistics Organization (CSO), with technical support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and financial assistance of development partners. Over the past years, thousands of surveyors have fanned out across the country, going province by province to visit homes and collect detailed demographic data which will be used to create an unprecedented snapshot of the country’s demographic situation down to the village level.

Using the SDES data collected in six provinces (Bamiyan, Daykundi, Ghor, Kabul, Kapisa and Parwan), the Thematic Report on Maternal Mortality goes a considerable way towards filling this gap. This Thematic Report analyses maternal mortality trends, correlates with age and education level where possible, and indicates avenues for further research.