November 17, 2015 – The Asia Foundation has released “A Survey of the Afghan People: Afghanistan in 2015”. The survey canvassed the opinions of almost 10,000 citizens from all of the country’s provinces. We have highlighted some of the key findings below; for the full release click here.
Just over one-third (36.7%) of respondents have a positive view of where the country is going, the lowest level in the past ten years. The number of people saying the country is going in the right direction has dropped by 18 per cent over the past year. More than half (57.5%) of the respondents said the country is going in the wrong direction.
Reasons for positive views of the country’s direction:
- Reconstruction 31.8 per cent
- Good security 28.5 per cent
- Good government 10.5 per cent
Reasons for negative views of the country’s direction:
- Insecurity 57.5 per cent
- Unemployment 25.4 per cent
- Corruption 13 per cent
- Bad economy 12.4 per cent
- Bad government 11.4 per cent
One of the driving factors of personal feelings of dissatisfaction is personal safety. The war-torn nation has struggled to find peace and calm for decades and this is seen in individual responses. Two-thirds (67.4%) of Afghans say they fear for their personal safety either always, often or sometimes. Two-in-ten (18.2%) say they or a member of their family have experienced crime or violence over the past year.
Remarkably, despite these circumstances, 75 per cent of respondents report being very happy or somewhat happy. For reference, Canada’s happiness level according to Gallup is around 92 per cent.
Image Credit – Hoodsie Dequincey