Press Home » Press Releases » Mission Press Releases » New Developments » Fact Sheets » Media Advisories » Speeches and Test » Development Calendar » Evidence Summits » Reports to Congress » Photo Gallery » FrontLines » Contact USAID »
	Front Page Inside Development/Dialogue Global Developments The Regions Global Developments Spotlight on Afghanistan
	Spotlight on Afghanistan Internet Access Lights Up Jalalabad Afghan Women Break into Construction Work
	USAID Information: USAID Country Page USAID's New Sustainability Guidance for Afghanistan (PDF, 350K) USAID's New Initiative in Afghanistan to Protect U.S. Tax Dollars from Unlawful Use USAID Afghanistan and USAID Pakistan at a Glance (PPT, 2.9mb) Employment Opportunities FY 2011 Congressional Budget Justification Mission Web Site Transition Initiatives: Afghanistan Stories From Afghanistan Selected USAID Reports Frontlines 01/2011: Special Afghanistan-Pakistan Edition IMPACTblog Posts About Afghanistan External Links: U.S. State Department CIA World Factbook United Nations Development Programme World Bank Group Embassy of Afghanistan Department of Commerce: Rebuilding Afghanistan
	Advanced search... Search USAID Personnel... Search USAID Documents...

Internet Access Lights Up Jalalabad

FrontLines - May 2010

Afghans attend a business skills course conducted by Land-o-Lakes.

U.S. assistance to Afghanistan extends to agriculture, education, medicine, infrastructure, and the economic, governmental, and technology sectors. For more information, visit: http://afghanistan.usaid.gov.

JALALABAD, Afghanistan—A new public-private partnership called “Light Up Jalalabad” is bringing Internet connectivity to educational institutions in one of Afghanistan’s eastern provinces.

The project—a partnership between USAID, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club, Nangarhar University, and Afghan partners— is building computer labs with Internet access across Nangarhar province.

With financial, administrative, and operational support from USAID, “Light Up Jalalabad” recently refurbished labs at the Nangarhar Medical School and School of Computer Science. Whereas the schools once had only a handful of functioning computers each, they now have more than 70 new computers and the equipment to maintain them.

NATO is providing funding for the Internet connectivity. These computers link users to resources across the world, giving them access to medical databases business software, market information, and language training.

Afghan farmers are replanting damaged and destroyed orchards.

“There was no proper lab before. The computers were old and always had problems,” said Abdul Hassan*, a student at the Nangarhar Medical School. “Now we have modern technology. Whenever we face a problem with our textbooks, we can come to the lab, search the Internet, and find solutions.”

The project will refurbish additional computer labs at the university and begin work on labs at five high schools and Nangarhar Hospital, which may get telemedicine applications. The project will also create a central Internet café in downtown Jalalabad for local entrepreneurs.

Internet access is an educational and research tool that opens the door to economic growth. By increasing access to computers and the Internet, USAID is helping Afghanistan improve the quality of its education system, develop its workforce, and pursue economic development through advances in science and technology. ★

*Names of individuals have been changed for security reasons.

FrontLines is published by the Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs
U.S. Agency for International Development

To have FrontLines delivered to you via postal mail, please subscribe.

Material should be submitted by mail to Editor, FrontLines, USAID,
RRB, Suite 6.10, Washington, DC 20523-6100;
by FAX to 202-216-3035; or by e-mail to frontlines@usaid.gov

To view PDF files, download
the Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Back to Top ^