Attachments
To date, this Emergency Appeal, which seeks CHF 24,600,000 is 37% funded. Further funding contributions through the 2023 unified country plans would be appreciated to enable National Societies in the region neighbouring Afghanistan, with the support of the IFRC, to continue with preparedness efforts while providing humanitarian assistance and protection to people on the move from Afghanistan.
Description of the crisis
Afghanistan faces an economic and humanitarian crisis more than one year after the change in government.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), two-thirds of Afghanistan’s population will need humanitarian assistance in 2023 as the country enters its third consecutive year of drought-like conditions and the second year of crippling economic decline. The number of people in need of assistance is estimated at a record 28.3 million in 2023, up from 24.4 million in 2022 and 18.4 million in 2021. The deteriorating economy has led to sharp declines in income and rising debt. Average household debt in Afghanistan has increased six-fold in recent years from Afghan Afghani (AFN) 9,770 in 2019 to AFN 59,492 in 2022. Most of the needs are in urban areas with 27 out of 34 provincial capitals experiencing extreme severity, including Kabul. Women and girls are usually more impacted by humanitarian crises, and this is the case in Afghanistan, where changes in the labour market particularly affect women.
The lack of access to basic services and food insecurity is creating a growing potential caseload for cross-border movements. This situation, therefore, requires a continued focus on preparedness and response activities in the neighbouring countries, especially Iran and Pakistan.
Afghans may begin to feel that local authorities have little or a decreasing capacity to govern and deliver, and/or that the international humanitarian response is unable to maintain its aid delivery effort. Therefore, a growing number of Afghans might be seeking refuge in neighbouring countries as an option, with Iran and Pakistan being the preferred (initial) destinations.