Today, Afghanistan is emerging from over two decades of recent violence.  It does so with astonishing resilience and optimism, but with a daunting task ahead.  Livelihood assets have been decimated and the public sector has suffered from years of under resourcing.  In addition the country remains vulnerable to prolonged droughts, harsh winters and mined pastures.  The result of this is that today Afghanistan has some of the lowest human development indicators in the world.  Life expectancy is 44.5 years at birth, 20 years lower than its neighbouring countries: only 28.7% of Afghans over the age of 15 can read and write and maternal mortality is 60 times higher than for women in industrialised countries, with pregnancy related deaths occurring every 30 minutes [1]. 53% of Afghans live below the National poverty line of 2100 Kcal/day.