My name is Razia and I live in District 9 of Mazar city. The canal next to my house is polluted and full of garbage. Children have to walk through the canal and all the garbage to reach their school. One day, while walking to school, my daughter Sama slipped and fell off the canal wall. There was broken glass in the garbage and this went into my child’s face. I was shocked to see her face full of blood. She didn’t go to school that day and I was very afraid. I took her to a clinic, but it took me a lot of effort to pass the canal. A bridge is necessary on this canal to avoid such incidents.

After the establishment of Community Development Councils (CDCs) in our district under the Afghanistan Urban Peacebuilding Programme (AUPP), people jointly decided to build a bridge over the canal to avoid similar incidents in the future.

I am very happy about this decision and express my gratitude towards the people of this community for building the bridge. I am sure what happened to my daughter will not happen to other children. The bridge on the canal will help the community, especially children, to move and walk to school safely.

AUPP aims to promote public discourse and learning on urban safety. It concentrates on enhancing the delivery of safety services, improving local government responsiveness and accountability, and strengthening partnerships between communities and civil society. The programme is implemented under the leadership of the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, Ministry of Interior, the Independent Directorate of Local Governance and Kabul Municipality, with technical assistance from UN-Habitat and funding from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.