As 55 per cent of Afghan population is estimated to be in crisis or experiencing emergency levels of food insecurity, the UN and Humanitarians expressed concern over “conditional humanitarianism or attempts to “leverage” humanitarian assistance for political purposes.
Though humanitarian aid is pouring into Afghanistan, majority of the Humanitarians continue to urge for pledged funding to be rapidly translated into commitments to resource immediate response and preparedness activities, said United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
FLASH APPEAL
In the latest report by OCHA, the authors point out that humanitarians seek 606 million dollar as part of the Flash Appeal to provide prioritised multi-sectoral assistance to 11 million people. with humanitarian assistance at a shortfall of some 276 million dollars.
The UN Agency urged donors to fast-track funding to mitigate against avoidable deaths, prevent displacement and reduce suffering. They also urged to ensure that funding is flexible enough to adapt to the fast changing conditions on the ground in Afghan..
DROUGHT
The OCHA mentions that Afghanistan is currently facing the second drought in four years and the worst of its kind in 27 years. The recently updated Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis shows the food security situation has further deteriorated with worrying implications for the winter lean season. Even prior to the events of 15 August (Taliban took over the country), the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan was one of the worst in the world. By the mid-year mark, nearly half of the population (some 18.4 million people) were already in need of humanitarian and protection assistance in 2021. Protection and safety risks to civilians, particularly women, children and people with a disability, were also reaching record highs, the OCHA said.
In the assessments, the UN Agency said that 57 per cent of households do not have food reserves for three months. In urban areas, income loss has contributed to the rapid deterioration in food insecurity. It also stated that ten of the 11 most densely populated urban areas are in shambles.
Sharp drops in income, surging food and other commodity prices, growing unemployment and severed remittances are expected to contribute to the deterioration of food security. Noting that no population group had a net positive report says that more households have higher than average debt. “This is increasingly concerning as food basket costs are steadily constituting more than 82 per cent of the average Household income. Markets continue to function, prices for key commodities remain well above pre pandemic levels and the purchasing power of casual labourers and pastoralists remains significantly reduced. It is anticipated that current political uncertainty, devaluation of the Afghan currency, import challenges and cash availability may lead to further inflationary impacts,” the OCHA said.
EDUCATION
- Continued support to schools and teachers is needed to ensure 9.5 million children continue their education
- Education of the current and next generation is at risk and continued long term support is required
- Need for medium-term financing to consolidate and expand community -based education – which is currently fully financed by external partners – to reach children in areas where there are no schools.
- Education of girls depends on the availability of female teachers. There is need for partners to increase the number of qualified female teachers to meet the needs of girls in schools or CBEs.
FOOD SECURITY
- High-level advocacy with the de facto authorities is required to ensure that all humanitarian workers -including women -are allowed to do their vital work in safety-without harassment, intimidation or fear
- Discussions at high level are needed to ensure the stability of the financial system to avoid a financial crisis that would further exacerbate humanitarian needs.
- Need to protect key vendors -that cooperate with humanitarian agency from economic sanctions
- More than half the population of Afghan -a record 22.8 million people will face acute food insecurity from November, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC)
- Donors need to fund a scale up of emergency life -Saving food assistance and livelihood support for populations to contain a high rate of asset depletion to cover food consumption gaps
HEALTH
- Urgent funding is required for rising health needs triggered by the escalation of the humanitarian crisis in the recent months due to drought, displacement, COVID-19 pandemic and reduced access to health care.
- Donors are urged to fast-track funding for known humanitarian needs to mitigate against avoidable deaths and reduce suffering.
- Donors are also urged to ensure that funding is flexible enough to adapt to the fast-changing conditions on the ground
PROTECTION
- Incidents of threats of forced eviction by de facto government members increasing, including on non-governmental land. For instance in Kabul, 300 families living in PD 12 have been threatened with forced eviction