Afghanistan: Humanitarian Dashboard (as of 31 March 2014)

SITUATION OVERVIEW

The CHF allocation strategy was approved: it focused on the life saving elements of the CHAP. It identified treating injuries and acute malnutrition as the immediate priority in conflict provinces identified in the CHAP, and it drew on data showing high levels of acute malnutrition from the national nutrition survey. It required health and nutrition clusters to work together to generate coordinated analysis and proposals. The first allocation of $20m, provides $8m for treating severely acutely malnourished children; $8m for emergency health to fund first aid trauma posts and ambulances to ensure the speedy transfer of war casualties to equipped and staffed health posts, and to bring emergency health support to more than 5.3 million people. $1m is to improve information management, and $2m reserved for response to fast onset disaster by Afghan NGOs.

In nine of the major rain-fed wheat producing provinces, the seasonal precipitation up to 20th March was half or less of the long term average. Kunduz, Takhar, Jawzjan and Badakhshan in particular had received only 19% to 41% of their average precipitation for the season. Food security agencies will monitor the crop situation closely from May to June, as two assessments are carried out. (VAM/FEWS NET and Seasonal Food Security Assessment).

At the time of writing, widespread flash floods in 16 provinces (88 districts) affected 120,000 people. About 2,700 families are displaced, 7,500 houses destroyed or damaged and 30,000 ha of crops destroyed or agricultural land spoilt. UN agencies and NGOs have utilised significant reserves of their prepositioned emergency stocks. Replenishing these stocks is a priority for the midyear review. The focus now is on the reconstruction of houses and vital infrastructure (irrigation canals, roads, culverts, bridges, walls), and restoring livelihoods for those who lost their assets.

Funding analysis shows the appeal is 37% funded, with $150m of the $406m requested. Total humanitarian funding, including to the Red Cross/Crescent family is $230 million. The food security, aviation and emergency shelter/non-food items are relatively well funded while health, nutrition and protection are relatively poorly funded, noting that the first CHF allocation goes some way to rebalancing the under funded health and nutrition sectors.

A low-level of refugee returns were recorded at just over 2,300, while the number of newly internally displaced people was 2,149 in the first quarter. Total IDPs have reached two thirds of a million, 184,000 of them in the south.