TIMECODE

SPEAKER

TEXT

00:00:02:11

Voiceover

There are several checkpoints on the way from the capital Kabul to Maidan Shahr, less than an hour's drive south. Afghan military bases are located outside the city, but all security measures have not prevented attacks inside Maidan Shahr from being common nowadays. The people here fear for their safety.

00:00:27.184

Gul Ahmad -Bazaar seller

-A few days ago, someone had placed a bomb under our

sales booth. There is no security, just problems.

00:00:38:06

Voiceover

Gul Ahmad has no easy life. But so have few Afghans. A teacher earns about $ 100 a month, a soldier 150.

00:00:47.500

Gul Ahmad -Bazaar seller

-I swear, we cannot even earn 100 Afs a

day, not enough for two loaves of bread.

00:00:52:13

Voiceover

Just a few kilometers outside the city, the Taliban movement is in full control. The checkpoints and bases that Afghan security forces have o utside are often attacked.

00:01:04.625

Hezbollah -Bazaar seller

-There is war and there are Talibans, and sometimes bomb blasts inside the city. Also outside the city, in the countryside, there is no security because there are Talibans everywhere.

-The government is weak and they can not bring security to us. Everywhere there is fighting, you can see that for yourself.

00:01:24:17

Voiceover

The Taliban now control most of Afghanistan. They and other Muslim extremists target violence primarily at those they see as representatives of an ungodly regime, the Afghan government's employees. For them, it will be difficult to travel in the country.

00:01:42.750

Hezbollah -Bazaar seller

-The Taliban stop and check people, and if they find something that shows that you

work for the authorities, they will take you. But others, "innocents," they leave.

00:01:50:07

Voiceover

Increasing uncertainty mostly affects the civilian population which can be seen at the hospital in Maidan Shahr. On a daily average, 6-7 people, injured in attacks, come here.

00:02:02.625

Niamatullah – Surgeon Maidan Shahr hospital

-Yes, the injured are brought here. Mostly they are injured

by bullets, or by shrapnel, there are many such cases.

00:02:14:02

Voiceover

Last year saw a sharp increase in the number of dead. According to the UN, close to 3,000 civilians are killed every year and 40% of these are women and children.

00:02:26.167

Niamatullah – Surgeon Maidan Shahr hospital

-Most civilians have been injured when they got into fighting between the two parties.

But it could also have been when their home was bombed or a rocket was fired at them.

00:02:40:09

Voiceover

The civilians are mainly affected, now that the Taliban, following the Doha agreement, are not attacking the forces of the United States and its allies, but instead have increased the attacks on the Afghan security forces. The Taliban have thus been able to strengthen their military positions. Now they have a stronger position in the "intra-Afghan" negotiations, which resumed in January.

00:03:10:15

Voiceover

Afghan security forces today number about 300,000 men, but about 30 Afghan soldiers are killed every day in the fighting. Few observers believe that the Afghan forces, despite constant recruitment, will be able to withstand the Taliban. The training of the Afghan troops has taken place with the help of NATO's "Resolute Support Mission". According to the Doha peace agreement, it will also be terminated. All foreign military advisers must leave Afghanistan by May this year.

00:03:46:05

Voiceover

The Taliban and other militant movements use bases in neighboring Pakistan. According to the Taliban leadership, injured Taliban soldiers receive medical care in Pakistan.

00:03:59:01

Voiceover

Afghan President Ghani has repeatedly tried to reach an agreement with Pakistan to stop their support for the Taliban and other extremists operating inside Afghanistan but without success. But Afghan efforts are still being made to try to establish cooperation with Pakistan.

00:04:16:10

Gran Hewad, spokesperson Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kabul

We will be putting all in to reach a full understanding and a concrete understanding to have Pakistan with us for reaching a peace agreement.

00:04:30:11

Voiceover

Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world. But the country has developed strongly in the last twenty years and as infrastructure has improved and television and mobile phones have become more common, attitudes are changing, especially with regard to the position of women.

00:04:52:23

Voiceover

Midwifery students practice breathing on a baby doll while their fully covered teacher instructs. Maternal and health care in Afghanistan has clearly improved and the number of women who die in childbirth has more than halved in the last twenty years.

00:05:09:19

Voiceover

About 20 midwifery students attend the Swedish Afghanistan Committee's training center in Wardak Province. Improved teaching, enlightenment and equality work have strengthened women's right to education and status in society.

00:05:25.208

Hila Amarkhail -Midwifery Student

-Yes, there is a big difference in society now compared to how it was before in our traditions. In the

past, women had no opportunities, but now many people think that women should have the same rights as men.

00:05:36:08

Voiceover

Despite all efforts, a majority of women in rural areas can neither read nor write Cultural barriers that hinder women are extensive.

00:05:46.883

Zoraya -Midwifery Student

-I want the improvements for women to continue in the future.

Especially in the health sector, we should have more opportunities.

00:06:00:12

Voiceover

Changing attitudes takes time, especially in Afghanistan where religion is very important.

But today there are about fifty women who visit the family planning clinic at the hospital in Wardak every day, unthinkable twenty years ago.

00:06:17.375

Khatoll Fazly -headteacher, Midwifery school

-There are some things that women should keep in mind in an islamic society, and

if I respect these things, I'm sure that men will let their women get education.

00:06:28:20

Voiceover

Today, 40% of Afghans have access to the internet, and the infrastructure has clearly improved. But a huge increase in the number of cars, as well as the smog in the capital Kabul, has also brought with it serious environmental problems. Begging women on the roads show how severe poverty is despite the estimated € 200 billion invested in reconstruction since 2001.

00:06:58:02

Voiceover

But the large sums pumped into the country have also led to widespread corruption. That can make young people graduating from Kabul University, easy to loose hope, especially when it comes to getting a job.

00:07:12:12

Abdul Jawid, student

-I must pay some money to get a job or I must have a relationship with some person in a high position to get a job. It is a very big problem for the young generation in Afghanistan.

00:07:30:17

Voicever

Another problem is the substandard education. The knowledge of most young people is deficient. Few, for example, know English.

00:07:39:06

Muhammad Yuakob, student

It is a reality that we have problems today, very much, but it can be solved. We are the generation with university (education). We try to change this situation.

00:07:55:09

Voiceover

Shkula Zadran is Afghanistan's youth representative at the UN. She has met many young people around the country and believes that they now want to take greater responsibility for development.

00:08:09:04

Skhula Zadran, Afghanistan Youth Representative, UN

There is a unity among Afghan youth. They have the same opinion about the ongoing issues and they are committed to have a better future.

00:08:24:00

Voiceover

Skhula's husband Idrees Stanekzai is a leader of a youth political movement.

00:08:29:07

Idrees Stanekzai, youth political leader

Most difficult that this time the Taliban and the terrorists are trying to kill and assassinate all younger Afghans who have their voice and their impact in the political area. But still the Afghan youth are not afraid of them, they are not threatened.

00:08:48:03

Voiceover

It is nowadays almost impossible for Afghan young men to seek refuge in a Western country due to stricter immigration rules. That can be one reason why there now is a more profound interest in politics among the youth.

00:09:04:16

Idrees Stanekzai, youth political leader

-I am glad that everything is closed because escaping and running is not an option. You don't run from your country or turn your back on your country in the prevailing bad situation. If you are educated, if you know things and if you can bring one percent change then it's very, very important to stay in your country instead of going or running to Europe or the US.

00:09:31:06

Voiceover

           
But despite ongoing "intra-Afghan" negotiations, violence is on the rise. Government employees, human rights activists and even schools are targets for the terrorists.

00:09:45:22

Voiceover

Journalists are no exception. In the offices of TV channel TOLO News, there is a stock of helmets and bulletproof vests at the closely guarded entrance, necessary to wear when outside reporting.

00:09:59.250

Zahra Rahimi -TV Journalist

-It's been worse for three months. We are exposed to attacks on us as journalists. We

do not know who is behind the deeds, but they will not be able to stop us in our work.

00:10:15:09

Voiceover

In the last twenty years, a stronger civil society has emerged in Afghanistan, including freedom of expression and more equality for women, who are now present in politics and in leading positions in society. Zahra Rahimi works as a reporter for the television station, mainly covering society and politics. She is worried about what a possible peace agreement with the Taliban will mean.

00:10:40.542

Zahra Rahimi -TV Journalist

-We can only wait and see what will happen, if the Taliban will share government power, and be part of a coalition government or if

they simply form their own Islamic government as they see fit. The last is what worries everyone, reporters as well as ordinary people.

00:10:58:18

Voiceover

Of course, the Afghans want an end to violence and insecurity and are therefore prepared to compromise for peace. It is hoped that the Taliban will also respect at least some of women's rights.

00:11:12.625

Fahrida Zadat -TV Journalist

-We have worked hard for the last twenty years and made great progress. I do not think that everything will be lost just because the Taliban

regain power. But we will do everything we can to resist change for the worse, and we will not let anyone take our rights away from us.

00:11:27:15

Voiceover

In the newspaper "Eetilat Roz" the power has gone. Many women work as journalists and do not want a peace agreement with the Taliban to result in women not being allowed to work with men or in senior positions

00:11:42:14

Voiceover

On social media, many campaigns are conducted, among them "Feminine perspectives", with 100,000s of followers. Other campaigns fighting against concessions to the Taliban have millions of supporters.

00:11:55.945

Fatima Faramerz -Reporter

-These campaigns of women shows their worries that in the peace deal their rights

could be forgotten, like the rights of all the victims of war should not be forgotten.

00:12:12:04

Voiceover

A clear majority of Afghans condemn the Taliban's ruthless escalation of violence and want to preserve the human rights won in Afghan society.

00:12:22.333

Fatima Faramerz -Reporter

-If in the peace negotiations they try to get something secretly that prevents us from working

or any other rights we have gained, then they should know that we will not tolerate it.