KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has inaugurated ten maternity centers in seven provinces of Afghanistan, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Thursday.
In a statement, the ministry announced that the maternity centers were officially opened on Monday, December 2, with two centers in Herat, two in Kandahar, two in Paktia, and the remaining centers in Nangarhar, Helmand, Paktika, and Balkh.
The ministry stated that the project is part of the UAE’s Comprehensive Development Program in Afghanistan, which aims to improve basic infrastructure across various sectors, with a particular focus on healthcare.
The UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation, Reem Bint Ebrahim Al Hashimy, according to the statement, affirmed the UAE’s commitment to continue its humanitarian, charitable, and development efforts in Afghanistan.
The opening of these maternity centers comes as Afghanistan ranks among the worst countries in the world for childbirth-related deaths, with “one woman dying every two hours,” according to the UN.
Even before the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, Afghanistan had one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates, recording 620 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020.
After the Taliban’s return to power, Afghanistan lost billions in foreign aid as international organizations and countries withdrew their support, leaving the healthcare system, which heavily depended on this assistance, in a critical state.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported in July that one-third of women in Afghanistan give birth outside health facilities without the support of healthcare professionals.
The Taliban’s restrictive measures on women’s education and work, including in the healthcare sector, have worsened the situation, further jeopardizing the lives of half of the country’s population.
The ruling regime in Afghanistan recently banned women and girls from attending medical institutions and pursuing training in midwifery and nursing, which had been their only avenue for education.
The Taliban’s latest restriction has drawn widespread condemnation globally, including from Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which warned that the ban would worsen the existing shortage of female health workers and further jeopardize the country’s already struggling healthcare system.
