With the final withdrawal of US and SLOTXO Nato troops from Afghanistan imminent, direct foreign intervention in the country is ending after nearly 20 years.
The UK's chief of defence staff, General Nick Carter, told the BBC that "Afghanistan has evolved hugely" over that time, pointing to improvements for women, and in education and in the media.
We've looked at what progress has been made in some of these areas, based on available data.
How violent is Afghanistan now?
Despite moves to reach a peace deal and allow for the withdrawal of foreign forces, violence has continued across Afghanistan.
Taliban fighters have recently seized dozens of districts in Afghanistan, as they step up attacks during the final withdrawal of foreign troops.
In the first three months of this year, the UN says the number of civilians killed and injured was significantly higher than a year ago, with increasing numbers of women and children among them.
The majority of these were attributed to insurgent groups such as the Taliban.
In 2020, more than 3,000 civilians died - the seventh year in a row this had happened.
What's the situation for women?
Under Taliban rule in the 1990s, women were not allowed to work and were discouraged from going to school.
That changed in 2001, and data from the country's national statistics agency shows that although the majority working in government departments and major public bodies are still men, the number of women has grown in the past two decades.
The figures show that in 2004, there were just over 51,200 women working in these sectors. That had risen to nearly 87,000 by 2018 (the last year for which data is available).
There was also an increase in the number of male employees in that period, but the percentage rise for women was higher (69% compared with about 41% for men).