Publisher's Synopsis
At the turn of the century 2000, few in Afghanistan could have imagined a country where millions of girls were attending school, where Afghan youth enjoyed cell phone access and 75 TV channels at their disposal, where there is a multi-ethnic Parliament with 70 female Members, actually a higher percentage of women representation than in the United States Congress. Few would have imagined that Afghanistan, whose life expectancy would have grown by more than one-third in a decade, nor could have anyone imagined national elections after three decades of war. We have this hearing today recently following April 5, 2014, the beginning of a momentous transition for the people of Afghanistan, the first democratic transfer of power in the history of that country. They also should serve to remind us and the American public of how far Afghanistan has come in the last 13 years. This political transition provides a significant opportunity to shift and talk now about the future of the country. Americans have to know what has been achieved and how an enduring partnership with the Afghan people can ensure that the next decade is as transformative as the last.
