Attachments
Afghanistan continues to face unprecedented, growing, and compounding humanitarian crises as it grapples with the fallout of forty years of conflict, widespread poverty, extreme and variable climactic conditions, and barriers to women’s equality and participation in public life. Following the takeover of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan by the De-facto Authorities (DfA) in August 2021, humanitarian and development needs have only continued to rise. As we move into 2024, Afghanistan is entering its fourth consecutive year of drought and faces economic contraction of roughly 25 per cent since August 2021.1 These dynamics further aggravate economic instability among both rural and urban populations, exacerbating humanitarian needs and underlying fragilities and creating a ripple effect on the social fabric of the country. The international community estimates that in 2024, nearly sixty percent of Afghans will be in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and 90 percent will be living in poverty, underscoring the sheer scale and magnitude of this crisis.
Through this appeal, IOM seeks to mobilize $ US 556 million to address the humanitarian and recovery needs of over 8.2 million people in Afghanistan, including IDPs, vulnerable migrants, cross-border returnees, and host communities.
IOM’s strategic approach in Afghanistan will continue to prioritize life-saving, multi-sectoral humanitarian and protection assistance across the country and in targeted crisis-affected areas and border-crossing points while laying the foundation for durable solutions for return, recovery, and longer-term interventions.
Following a decree banning Afghan women’s higher education and a subsequent 24 December 2022 decree banning Afghan women from working for (I)NGOs, on 4 April 2023, the DfA issued a ban on Afghan women working with the United Nations (UN).
Despite these measures, during 2023, IOM remained committed to ensuring women’s meaningful engagement and participation as deemed culturally acceptable and when needed throughout its programming. Through these efforts, IOM continues to uphold its commitments to not replacing female staff with male staff and prioritizing staff safety and security. IOM also continues to operate in a principled manner under the guidance of the InterAgency Standing Committee (IASC) framework for humanitarian operations in Afghanistan.
All interventions under this Appeal are evidence-based, founded on data collected through the IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) and partners. Additionally, all interventions are implemented via a participatory approach involving affected populations across all steps of the programme cycle to promote a needs-based and inclusive response as well as accountability to affected populations (AAP).
This Appeal outlines IOM’s proposed response plan for Afghanistan in 2024, in alignment with the multi-agency Afghanistan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, the United Nations Strategic Framework for Afghanistan, and IOM’s regional Comprehensive Action Plan for Afghanistan and Neighbouring Countries.