Poverty and social policies related to poverty in Afghanistan: The example of Bamyan city

Within the scope of this thesis, the issue of poverty in Afghanistan has been addressed, with a focus on the sources of poverty, social policy implementations, and their reflections in the city of Bamyan. The study aims to identify the roots of poverty in Afghanistan, reveal the problems caused by poverty, and determine the indicators of social policies and their effects on poverty alleviation. Simultaneously, this study, which takes a sociological perspective on the poverty problem in Afghanistan, examines the inadequacy of government and even international organizations programs implemented to reduce poverty, considering the current situation in the country and the significance of poverty as a major problem. The research is designed with a mixed method, relying on relevant literature and studies on the dimensions of poverty, and adopting a convergent design. Quantitative and qualitative data collected from different regions and groups in the city center of Bamyan were analyzed through the social justice pattern based on the convergent design. The findings of the research indicate the prevalence of chronic and absolute poverty in Afghanistan, with the majority of the Afghan population struggling with poverty. The most significant factors contributing to poverty include unemployment, war, insecurity, political instability, government collapse, discrimination, ethnic polarization, drought, weak governance, effective policy violation, institutional corruption, injustice, lack of education, restrictions on women's rights to work and education, high prices, and marginalization. On the other hand, poverty itself has led to various problems in society, such as increased crime, war, insecurity, domestic violence, migration, lack of education, social conflicts, brain drain, corruption, extremism, joining terrorist groups, moral decline, drug trafficking, suicide, health problems, forced marriage, mistrust, begging, child trafficking, and the sale of body parts. Social policies related to poverty in Afghanistan have resulted in failure due to factors such as wars, political instability, administrative corruption, gender and ethnic discrimination, economic crisis, deficiencies in the government's urban and rural development policies, and the inability to determine needs. Therefore, it is believed that effective social policies based on social justice under a democratic government and a welfare state can reduce or eliminate poverty.