Haidah* (Laila's daughter) poses for a photograph in the family home in Afghanistan.

ActionAid responded to the 2021-2022 crisis in Afghanistan after several earthquakes, rocketing world food prices, caused by the war in Ukraine, severe drought and the Covid-19 pandemic left an estimated 95% of the population without enough to eat.1  

ActionAid and other DEC charities supported thousands of people through a freezing winter, delivering cash support so families could buy food, heating equipment and other winter supplies. We also delivered hygiene kits to women in need, including essentials like soap and sanitary pads.  

Afghanistan Crisis Appeal: 2021-2022

ActionAid’s emergency teams  responded after a 6.1 magnitude earthquake  killed at least 1,000 people and injured 1,500 in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday 23 June.

Our teams are working with local communities in the Barmal district of Paktika where more than 75% of the houses are damaged.

So far, ActionAid has distributed 200 food kits in the villages and plans to distribute cash to vulnerable families. 

The earthquake is the latest disaster to hit the country which is already affected by political instability, food insecurity, Covid-19, and climate change.

We urgently need your help. Please donate now.
 

DEC Afghanistan Crisis Appeal: how can I help?

Your gift to the DEC Afghanistan Crisis Appeal can help people in urgent need.

Warm clothes and blankets

£30

could provide blankets for one family of seven for the winter months

£50 could provide emergency food to a family [who have lost their home] for 45 days

£50

could provide emergency food to a family who have lost their home, for 45 days

winterisation package to provide heating equipment for a family

£150

could provide a winter package with heating equipment for a family of seven

Or choose your own amount to give

£

DEC Afghanistan Crisis Appeal: ActionAid's response

ActionAid reached thousands of families in the three provinces of Afghanistan - Bamyan, Nangarhar and Samangan for support.

Along with food, hygiene and cash support, we provided counselling to people whose lives were devastated by conflict, severe drought and hunger. 

  • WASH facilities at schools: In Bamyan, Nangarhar and Samangan provinces, we constructed WASH facilities including rehabilitation of toilets and the connection of water pipes powered by a solar system for the provision of safe and potable drinking water in schools.

  • Hygiene Kits: The distribution of the hygiene kits was done in the three provinces: 772 households in Bamyan received three rounds of hygiene kits; 1087 households in Nangarhar received three rounds of hygiene kits; and another 1087 households in Samangan received 3 rounds of hygiene kits.

  • Livelihood support: Households in the three provinces received cash grants and wage support to help the local economy, increase community resilience and provide much needed short-term income to unemployed Afghans.
  • Food support: We distributed cash for food to households as cash was chosen over in-kind distribution as our market assessment found that food was available, but households could not afford to buy it at local market rates.

You can support women in need in Afghanistan

Sara*, 57 is from the Ghor province of Afghanistan and depended on farming to make a living. Her family lost 90% of their wheat crop in 2021 due to drought and were forced to sell off their livestock to survive. 

Sara and her family left their home village and travelled to the capital, Firozkoh. They are struggling to find work and often go to sleep hungry. 

"My family fled our hometown because we did not have enough food to survive there any longer," she said.

"I was afraid of the humanitarian crisis which might result in the death of my family members."

I can manage to buy flour, oil, basic food and heating items with the cash support from ActionAid. This will prevent my family facing hunger and cold. The more you support, the more we can survive."

About ActionAid

ActionAid is an international charity that works with women and girls living in poverty.

Our dedicated local staff are changing the world with women and girls. We are ending violence and fighting poverty so that all women, everywhere, can create the future they want.

We operate in rural and urban communities across Asia, Africa and Latin America.

We're committed to ending the cycle of violence in communities around the world, enabling women's economic empowerment, and supporting women's and girls' rights during humanitarian crises.

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Footnotes

  • 1https://www.dec.org.uk/appeal/afghanistan-crisis-appeal
Top photo: Haidah* lives with her mother and siblings in an Afghanistan province that is home to many families displaced by the crisis. Arete/DEC *Name changed.

Page updated 23 July 2024