ABSTRACT
Childbirth and maternity care became a major focus in Afghanistan post 2001, alongside access to the essentials of water, food, electricity, and security, and over 1000 foreign agencies assembled in Kabul 2002–2006. This chapter describes two models that emerged in the country: a community approach that worked from the grassroots up; and a national program that used a large infrastructure to work from the top down. The first model is exemplified by the community development projects supported and developed by NGOs in Afghanistan, one in particular in Nimruz Province. The second model is exemplified by the large-resource UNICEF and USAID-funded initiatives with the Ministry of Health of Afghanistan. The Ministry of Public Health set out its options for securing funding for BPHS from 2012 to 2020, and conceded that it could not rely solely on donor funds.
