Attachments
Highlights
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Flash floods have affected almost 16,000 people across the country. UNICEF has provided critical WASH, health, and nutrition support to affected households.
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Access challenges are increasing due to bureaucratic impediments affecting the delivering of humanitarian assistance.
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In August, there was a 25% increase in admitted severe acute malnutrition (SAM) cases, indicating higher levels of malnutrition, particularly in Helmand and Kandahar due to the ongoing effects of drought and acute watery diarrhoea (AWD).
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During the reporting period, over 170,000 children under-five were vaccinated against measles and 430,229 people were reached with safe water.
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A UNICEF Winter response strategy was developed targeting over 100,000 households with humanitarian cash transfers throughout the harsh winter months. Funding needs amount to US$ 75 million.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
In August 2022, Afghanistan was severely affected by flash flooding in central, eastern, and southern regions. Floods affected an estimated 15,875 people with over 5,600 houses either destroyed or damaged across Kunar, Laghman, Logar, Maidan Wardak, Nangarhar, Nuristan, Paktya, Kandahar, Zabul, Uruzgan, and Parwan provinces.
UNICEF released a 2022-2023 winter strategy to ensure an integrated approach in targeted locations. The strategy outlines response activities as well as key preparedness initiatives including prepositioning of critical supplies in areas cut off by winter weather. The primary response modality is the use of humanitarian cash transfers to enable households to meet their survival needs throughout the harsh winter months in a dignified way.
The month of August was one of the most volatile in the past year. According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, August had the highest monthly number of civilian casualties over the last year. A series of explosions killed and injured more than 250 people, including children. In one incident, a massive explosion on 17 August, during evening prayers at the Abu Bakar Mosque in Kabul city, left 21 dead and at least 33 injured.
Acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) outbreaks continue across the country. 40,410 new cases with dehydration were reported bringing the total to 141,361 since the outbreak began in May 2022. While the cases are spread across the country, the impact in August has primarily been in Baghlan, Parwan, Kabul, Paktya, Khost, Kandahar, and Helmand. However, as the warm season recedes, the numbers reported are decreasing. In the last week of August, the cases have decreased from 12,940 to 5,575. Measles cases continue to be reported with 3,021 suspected cases reported across Badakhshan, Nangarhar, Kabul, Kunduz, Helmand, Takhar and Herat during the month of August. Since January 2022, there have been 7,269 samples collected with 3,371 laboratory confirmed cases.
Food insecurity and malnutrition continue to affect the majority of the population of Afghanistan; for ten consecutive months, more than 90 per cent of the population has experienced insufficient food consumption. Household incomes continue to shrink while household food expenditure share increases amidst rising inflation and a global surge in food prices. The food security situation has a serious impact on the nutrition status of children across the country. In August, SAM admissions increased by a total of 25 percent from previous months, with Helmand and Kandahar provinces in the southern region being the worst affected. Both provinces continue to record the highest cases for SAM and contributed to 23 per cent of the total admission across the country, likely driven by weak infant and young child (IYCF) practices, drought, acute food insecurity, poor WASH practices and AWD/cholera outbreaks.