The Asia Foundation recently released their latest Afghan Public Opinion Poll.  This is the Asia Foundation's fifth such poll in Afghanistan, following previous ones in 2004, 06, 07 and 08.  

For a link to the Asia Foundation website and latest poll, click here

Here are some highlights:

Methodology

The latest poll was conducted between June and July this year, in all 34 provinces in Afghanistan.  6206 face-to-face interviews were conducted, 53% being with men, 47% with women.  For the first time in one of their Afghan polls,  the Asia Foundation had been unable to access some locations because of insecurity, but in those instances, found an alternative location within the same district.  They were unable to interview any women in Paktia, Zabul and Uruzgan provinces because they could not get female interviewers for those areas.

Key Findings

In summary, the report shows that:

• Compared to 2008, more Afghans felt that the country was moving in the right direction.
• Unemployment was a large problem at national and local levels;
• At a local level, Afghans' main priorities were more electricity, roads and water;
• The majority of Afghans said that they were more prosperous now than under the Taliban, or the Soviets;
• 70% of the population was happy with the Government.

Overall, most of the results presented are similar to those recorded in the 2008 poll.  

The 2009 data does differ from 2008 in a few notable areas.  In 2008, 22% of Afghans said that their biggest problem was high food prices.  This was a reflection of the ongoing food insecurity problems gripping Afghanistan during the latter part of 2007 and early 2008.  But by 2009 the crisis had eased, as reflected by this year's poll where only 7% of respondents cite it as their biggest problem.

There was also a noticeable decrease in the amount of women who saw forced marriages and domestic violence as their biggest problems.  Instead, this year women cited education and a lack of job opportunities as their biggest concerns. The Asia Foundation's analysis is that this does not necessarily mean that domestic violence and forced marriages were no longer problems for women, more that they had begun to acknowledge bigger priorities.

During election year, it is also worth noting that 67% of Afghans had confidence in the Independent Election Commission, up from 57% last year.

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