Human Development; A trivial Concept in Afghanistan

Today, the concept of human development has become one of the most important and vital concepts in the world, and developed or developing countries have made it their first priority, and perhaps they plan and implement all their policies in such a way that the results leads to human development. Undoubtedly, the main and ultimate goal of human development is to improve the living conditions of citizens.

The concept of human development, in addition to emphasizing and paying attention to economic growth, is not enough and beyond the increase of wealth and income, it seeks to expand the range of choices and opportunities of people in life. Based on this, human development has three dimensions or three key elements that include healthy and long life, access to proper education, and proper standard of living.

In its 2023/2024 report, the United Nations Development Program, which publishes the Human Development Report in the world every year, has placed Afghanistan among the countries with a low level of human development and has assigned this country the 182^nd place among 193 countries.

According to the data of this report, Afghanistan has obtained 0.462 value points in the index of life expectancy at birth and has a figure of 62.9 years, in the index of expected years of education, it has obtained a figure of 10.7 years, in years of education and a strange figure of 2.5 year for mean years of education and finally recorded the figure of 1335 dollars in the gross national per capita income. It should be mentioned that according to the same report, Afghanistan has also experienced a fall in comparison to 2021.

Now, in a comparative assessment, we should look for how much the situation of human development in Afghanistan differs from the best situation in the world in order to be more clear.

Switzerland, which ranks first in human development indicators in the world, has a score of 0.967 and the life expectancy at birth is 84.3 years, the expected years of education is 16.6, the mean years of education is 13.9 and the national gross per capita income of that country is 69433 dollars.

The difference between the two countries is huge. This means that the life expectancy index in Afghanistan is 21.4 years lower than in Switzerland. The index of expected years of education is 5.9 years lower. The index of average years of education is 11.4 years less, and finally, the gross national income per capita in Afghanistan is 68,098 dollars less than Switzerland.

Therefore, Afghanistan is in the lowest possible ranks in human development indicators in the world, and this shows that the living conditions of the citizens of this country are facing many challenges and difficulties, and even the current situation can be defined as a full-scale disaster.

Therefore, the time has come for the caretaker government of Afghanistan and other parties involved in the conflict in this country to face the problem and, realizing the miserable situation of human development in Afghanistan, should seriously seek to resolve the factors of the conflict and by reaching an understanding, along with stand together and put the work for human development in this country as their first priority. This is the religious and humanitarian mission of everyone, and whatever is done outside of the national interests of Afghanistan is in fact an unforgivable betrayal of the land and the country and will lead Afghanistan to further backwardness and regression.

Afghan citizens also have the right to have a stable and developmental system. Like the citizens of Switzerland, they have the right to benefit from more welfare and health and without any exception to achieve the highest levels of education.