Cash helps returning families when they need it most

Afghanistan | 2025 | CBPF

Afghanistan, Kabul. When Leila and her family returned to Afghanistan from Iran, they had few ties to their home country. Months before, the family had to leave Iran. It was not an easy transition.

Laila longed for her old routines, and her face lights up when she talks about her life in Iran. There, her husband had overcome drug addiction and found regular work. Leila, too, had a job and they were able to provide a modest life for their children.

When the family first returned to Afghanistan, it was difficult to find work and pay rent. Because of her husband’s illness, Laila was registered as head of the household.

While they stayed at first with family in Kabul she worried that they would have to move to an informal settlement if they couldn’t rent a home.

“It is not easy to navigate life these days, but I am trying every day to build a better future for my children,” she says.

Funded by the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund, the Norwegian Refugee Council ran a cash assistance project between August 2024 and May 2025 to help vulnerable families afford like Laila’s to pay rent during their transition. NRC also provided the cash recipients with information, counselling, and legal assistance services, to ensure that they would enter valid and fair rental agreements.

This AHF-funded assistance enabled Laila and other women to rent suitable family apartments and feel like a huge burden has been lifted.

“I feel relieved and can sleep at night now, knowing that my family has a safe space,” says Laila. She dreams of owning her own house, and the stability it would provide.

For more information: visit the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund web site, and for real-time contribution and allocation data go to the Pooled Funds Data Hub.

Posted May 2025

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