NRC Afghanistan - Fact Sheet
Updated May 2016
Basic Info:
Established:
Country Office:
Field offices:
Budget 2016:
Budget 2015:
Country Director:
Phone:
E-mail:
International staff:
National staff:
Core Activities:
2003
Kabul
Balkh, Faryab, Herat, Kabul, Kandahar, Khost,
Kunduz, Nangarhar, Sar-i-Pul, and Badghis
121 million NOK
117 million NOK
Olivier David
+93 (0) 79 97 97 748
[email protected]
10
409
Donors:
Main Donors: NMFA, NORAD, DANIDA, ECHO, EuropeAid (DevCo), and SIDA
Other Donors: DfID, UNOCHA, UNHCR
Humanitarian and political context :
Afghanistan remains in a state of protracted humanitarian crisis, with the increase in provinces affected by conflict and
substantial exposure to natural disasters becoming distinguishing characteristics. In the first quarter of 2016, 90,119
individuals fled their homes due to conflict, whilst 5,164 individuals were affected by natural disasters- notably flooding/
heavy rainfall, landslides, and avalanches. 23 of 34 provinces had recorded some level of forced displacement, whilst
armed opposition groups controlled a number of districts (15, with another 17 significantly contested districts).
Additionally, fragmentation of armed groups brought fighting to previously quiet areas, forcing more displacement in
new, hard-to-reach areas. Both conflict and natural disaster-driven displacement has accelerated urbanization in
Afghanistan, furthering impoverishing vulnerable communities and demographics (particularly women) and straining
relations with host communities with competing access to land and basic services. It is highly probable that all of these
internal trends will continue throughout 2016, leading to more people needing humanitarian protection assistance.
Afghanistan has suffered significant increase in refugee returnees - both documented and undocumented- from
Pakistan and Iran; since 2002 more than six million have returned, both spontaneously and through forced
deportations. The estimated 225,000 Pakistani refugees from the Waziristan region that sought refuge in southeast
Afghanistan (Paktika and Khost) have entered their second year in displacement. Although 2016 is expected to witness
reduction in refugee numbers, partly as a result of improved biometric registration and partly due to the expectation that
some will begin to return home, an estimated 175,000 are expected to remain. An emergent phenomenon is that of the
recent spike of high-risk overland migration into Europe, Afghans comprise the second largest nationality (behind
Syrians) at 26% - there is still an analytical deficit on the drivers and target groups in this recent trend.
The total response requirements identified across different sectors to meet the needs of vulnerable people across
Afghanistan in 2016 amounts to a total assistance requirement of approximately 8.3 million people. However, only an
estimated 6.5 million of this will be provided, with decreasing amounts of funding available following the withdrawal of
international militaries at a time with increasing humanitarian needs and security risks. Monitoring data concerning
needs (for both assistance and more for protection) remains weak, with significant caseloads undocumented or
unregistered. Humanitarian access remains a perennial issue, particularly in a period of diminishing state control, and
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For more information visit www.nrc.no
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requires innovation from humanitarian actors to overcome security challenges to reach the most vulnerable. In
particular, promoting gender equality in humanitarian action is a critical issue requiring strategic attention, as there has
endemically been a low quality of humanitarian access to most vulnerable women and girls.
NRC in Afghanistan:
NRC in Afghanistan is providing protection and assistance to IDPs, returnees, refugees and host communities in
Afghanistan through:
Education: From January- April 2016, 14,787 (4,768 female; 10,019 male) children, youth, teachers, and education
personnel benefited from the education programme in Afghanistan, of whom almost half were girls and women.
Emergency Response: The Emergency programme assisted 27,059 (13,771 female; 13,288 male) persons affected
by conflict or natural disasters across Afghanistan so far in 2016.
Information, Counselling, and Legal Assistance (ICLA): Over two million people have been assisted by NRC’s ICLA
programme since it started in Afghanistan in 2003. In 2016, the ICLA team has directly assisted approximately 18,387
persons (8,362 female; 10,025 male), primarily through rights-based and legal protection of those forcibly displaced.
Shelter/WASH: From January- April 2016, NRC assisted 290 families (1,475 individuals) through the construction of
one and two room shelters. Each household was provided with an individual latrine and received hygiene training and a
hygiene kit. The activities were implemented in Nangarhar, Kabul, Kunduz, Laghman, and Khost Provinces. The
shelter/ WASH team also constructed 57 single latrines with hand washing facilities nearby EiE classes in Gulan Camp
in Khost Province, benefitting a total of 5,900 school children and staff members so far.
Regional Programming: The Afghan Uprooted People (AUP) is a regional programme funded by EuropeAid targeting
refugees in Pakistan and Iran as well as IDPs and returnees in Afghanistan. The overall programme objective is to
establish and operationalize a regional approach to respond to the issues of protracted displaced Afghans and
returnees in a holistic manner, where the three country programmes collaborate and share information, providing the
ability to support Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan with preparations for return. The programme entails various
activities in three areas; ICLA, education, and livelihoods with key cross-cutting issues including advocacy (such as on
the National IDP policy) and coordination. During Year 1 of the programme (March 2015 until February 2016), NRC, on
a regional level, reached a total of 22,830 beneficiaries (9,865 female;12,965 male).
NRC Priorities for 2016 and Beyond:
With an overall objective of contributing to a needs-based response with integrated durable solutions and basic
protection for displacement-affected populations in Afghanistan, NRC will in 2016 strive to expand its coverage in the
areas of highest need, particularly in under-served provinces such as Zabul, Paktika, and Badghis. Whilst
increasingly focusing on the emergency state across all the core competencies, NRC will also look to strengthening
synergies between its programmes and strive towards expanding its regional funding possibilities to further develop
its regional and cross- border programming.
Efforts will also be made to increase NRC Afghanistan programme’s overall gender focus, including developing its
capacities to engage in activities to mitigate Gender based Violence (GBV) and the promotion of Gender in
Humanitarian Action aimed at conducting gender analysis and assessments from the field to help inform existing core
competencies. NRC will also explore evidence-based options to reduce the vulnerability of Afghans considering highrisk migration to Europe, potentially linking its humanitarian relief activities with resilience initiatives and early recovery
programmes.
NRC core activities update in Afghanistan:
NRC is implementing activities in the areas of Education, ICLA, Shelter, WASH and Emergency Response in
Northern, Eastern, Southern, Western, and Central Afghanistan.
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Education: The overall objective of NRC’s Education programme is to ensure that the right to quality education and
sustainable livelihood for Afghan children and youth is fulfilled, through providing vulnerable and displaced children
and youth with access to quality education in a protective environment as well as sustainable livelihoods
opportunities. The programme encompasses a Youth Education Pack (YEP) component, combining vocational
training with literacy and life skills classes, Accelerated Learning Programmes (ALP), Early Childhood Development
(ECD), and Education in Emergencies (EiE). As part of the EiE component, in 2016, NRC will continue working with
the Ministry of Education (MoE) to increase the capacity of the Afghan government to respond to the urgent
educational needs of children affected by conflict and natural disasters.
ICLA: NRC’s ICLA programme aims to ensure that vulnerable displacement affected populations are able to claim
and exercise their rights which are fundamental to reaching durable solutions. The programme employs statutory and
traditional dispute resolution mechanisms in order to resolve cases related to Housing, Land, and Property (HLP)
rights, civil documentation, and other rights or social services of importance to displacement affected populations.
ICLA beneficiaries receive direct assistance through community visits, encashment centre visits, community
sensitization sessions, trainings, legal assistance, as well as individual counselling and information packages. The
programme also provides internship for students of Law and Sharia'a faculties to build their capacities in legal case
management and counseling. In 2016, the programme rolled out its newly revised training manuals and is working
towards utilising the findings of the 2015 civil documentation study. Following the study on Women’s Housing, Land
and Property Rights (WHLP), the programme will continue to strive towards increasing the ratio of female
beneficiaries across its projects.
Shelter/WASH: The overall objective of NRC’s Shelter programme (including WASH) is to ensure displacement
affected vulnerable families in Afghanistan (including refugees) are physically protected, enjoy access to education
facilities, and benefit from reduced risks of morbidity and mortality due to water borne disease. To this end, the
programme provides targeted beneficiaries with access to durable shelter solutions, depending on the status of land
tenure, as well as education infrastructure, potable drinking water, and household latrines. Shelters are primarily
constructed through a community driven approach which is predominantly cash-based. As a leading shelter
organisation, NRC has also been a chief advocate for the need to ‘build back better’ through the adoption of shelter
designs incorporating Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) measures. In 2016, NRC continues to focus on areas of large
nexus of return and displacement (such as Nangarhar) and also assisting Pakistani refugees in Khost Province.
Emergency Response: NRC’s Emergency programme responds to the needs of both conflict-induced IDPs and
those affected by natural disasters, tailoring each response to meet the needs of the most vulnerable, including host
community members. Emergency response continues to expand its scope in 2016 to cover needs of undocumented
returnees in Eastern Afghanistan. Under this programme, targeted beneficiaries are provided with Unconditional
Cash Transfers (UCT), Cash-for-Shelter (CFS), Cash-for-Work (CFW), and Non-Food Item (NFI) kits. Acknowledging
the current displacement trends, NRC will increasingly focus on urban and semi-urban areas for its programming in
Afghanistan.
NRC plays a central logistical role through stockpiling for the Emergency Response Mechanism in Afghanistan, a
partnership which advocates for a coordinated response and standardised approaches to emergency response
across Afghanistan.
Through its ongoing Humanitarian Access component, a number of initiatives are designed to promote operational
access for humanitarian agencies through high-level coordination and capacity building, and supporting innovative
work on improving understanding and acceptance of humanitarian work in Afghanistan.
NRC also plays a leadership and coordination role in the humanitarian community on ‘protection’ issues, through
coordinating the Protection Cluster and other bodies, and has led efforts to ensure protection mainstreaming is a
priority of the wider humanitarian community through targeted interventions in the Southern, Eastern, Northern,
Western, and Central regions and supported operations and programming in the North-eastern and Central
Highlands regions.
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