This is Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English DevelopmentReport.

Efforts are being made to educate people in Afghanistan about thepolitical process before their first presidential election. The voteis set for October ninth. Parliamentary and local elections areplanned for next April. Voters will have their finger marked withink so they cannot vote more than once.

The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs is anon-profit organization based in Washington. This group has openedsix offices in Afghanistan to teach the public about politicalcampaigns and fair elections. Another group, Internews, is workingwith local media and Internet providers to help guarantee freedom ofexpression.

The United Nations said last week that nearly ten million peoplehave received voting papers. The number who signed up to vote,especially women, is higher than expected. More than forty percentare women. Females had few rights under the Taliban government.

Five years of Taliban rule ended in late two thousand one afterAmerican-led forces went to war in Afghanistan. The action againstal-Qaida and its Taliban supporters followed the September eleventhterrorist attacks on the United States.

American officials say the Taliban and al-Qaida continue tooperate along the Afghan borders. Fighting has increased recently.Election workers have been killed. The aid group Doctors WithoutBorders left the country.

But there are examples of other aid efforts in Afghanistan. TheWorld Health Organization has launched an emergency campaign againstleishmaniasis. This disease is spread by sand flies.

The World Bank has approved thirty-five million dollars foreducation. The U.N. refugee agency has launched a program to assistmore than three million Afghans. And the Asia Development Bank hasapproved technical assistance to help rebuild roads.

But there is another problem. The U.N. says Afghanistan has againbecome the world's largest producer of heroin. Farming of opiumpoppy to make the illegal drug has increased since the fall of theTaliban. Europe gets most of its heroin from Afghanistan.

In Kabul earlier this month, American Defense Secretary DonaldRumsfeld told the Afghans they are winning in their effort torebuild their country. But he warned that the drug trade threatensthe future of their democracy and way of life.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by JillMoss. This is Gwen Outen.