"Now I don’t have to carry my mother anymore"- Paved roads restore more than just access in Afghanistan

For years, Shukria had no other option. Each time her 58-year-old mother required urgent medical attention, she carried her- on her back- across the dusty, uneven path of their neighborhood in Mazar-e-Sharif, walking nearly half a kilometre to reach the main road. The road was so narrow that vehicles could not access their home. It was a painful and exhausting task, made bearable only by her love for her mother and the honor of her duties as a daughter. 

“Now I don’t have to carry my mother anymore,” Shukria says with a tearful smile. 

The rehabilitation of the road has brought her relief and restored the dignity of her mother. Now she can bring transport to their doorstep and take her mother swiftly and safely to medical facilities. 

Across Afghanistan, roads are a lifeline- providing more than just basic services. In Sayed Abad, a low-income neighborhood in western Herat City, poor drainage and road conditions once put pregnant women and patients in serious danger. When Sobra went into labor a few years ago, the only available transport was a motorbike. The road was bumpy and rough. “I was in pain, and every jolt felt like I might lose my baby,” she recalls. “Many women didn’t make it. It was terrifying.”

The road has since been paved. Adequate drainage has been installed to protect the road from frequent flash floods. “The new road changes everything for us,” Sobra says. “We no longer fear the journey to the hospital.”

In Ghazni City, the delay in reaching a medical facility cost Zulaikha her unborn child. Diagnosed with a bloodstream infection, she needed immediate care—but the rough road caused long delays. “She miscarried,” her husband shares quietly. “I relive that moment every day, wishing the road was better.” His wish has now been realised.

Since the launch of the Afghanistan Community Resilience and Livelihoods Project, which is funded by the World Bank and the Afghanistan Resilience Trust Fund (ARTF), UNOPS has rehabilitated nearly 400 kilometers of roads in urban communities, improving access to basic services for over 4.3 million people—half of them women.

This effort has not only restored critical connectivity to health, education, and markets but has also created income opportunities for thousands of vulnerable individuals through a Cash-for-Work approach.