Local Afghan women lined up to receive their certificates in a graduation ceremony for the completion of a Midwifery Education Program in Feyzabad, Badakhshan, today.  The Badakhshan Community Midwifery Education (CME) program has been in existence since 2005, with support from USAID and implemented by the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in Badakhshan. 

Women who enter the CME program are recruited for the two-year residential curriculum through a participatory recruitment approach involving local community leaders, Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) representatives, and implementing non-governmental organizations.  Once graduated, the twenty-three women will return to serve their rural communities, employed in local clinics and health centers.  To date, 47 midwives have graduated from the Badakhshan CME program.

Acting Governor Shamsurahman Shams, Dr. Satar Jabarzai of the Ministry of Public Health, a representative of the Afghan Midwives Association, representatives from the AKDN and USAID Acting Mission Director Kevin Brownawell took part in the ceremony.

“Midwives are critical to improving maternal and child health and preventing unnecessary deaths,” said USAID’s Brownawell.  “In Badakhshan and throughout Afghanistan, midwives are making a difference in the health and well-being of women. Thank you for serving your communities.”

USAID, in collaboration with MoPH and its implementing partner, Jhpiego (affiliated with John Hopkins University), has sponsored 12 CME programs, and has trained over 50 percent of all active midwives in the country.  MoPH estimates that over 2,600 midwives have been trained in Afghanistan, up from 468 in 2002.