Afghan women become midwives to address healthcare gap

Forty young Afghan women are attending a trainee midwife programme run by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and a local charity Watan Social and Technical Services Association. They are trained to save the lives of mothers and babies in remote parts of the country where medical help is scarce. Afghanistan has the highest maternal mortality rate in Asia, with the UN estimating that an Afghan woman dies every two hours during pregnancy and childbirth.