Dear Friends,
This past winter was a harsh one in Afghanistan as there were severe food shortages and people were on the brink of famine. The situation was even more dire for Hazaras, who are stigmatized on the basis of race, religion and collectively punished by the Taliban due to the community's overwhelming support for the U.S. mission in Afghanistan in the past 20 years. While humanitarian aid distribution is ongoing by major aid organizations; however, there are reports of abuse and selective approach to aid distribution on the basis of political loyalty and ethnic/racial affiliation.
February 2022:
To mitigate some of the pain and agony of the Hazara community, Bamyan Foundation provided humanitarian assistance for 235 at risk families in Afghanistan (185 families in Kabul and 50 families in Daykundi province) this February.
This project was implemented in collaboration with Baba Mazari Foundation. Through a rigorous survey, our team on the ground had identified approximately 3000 vulnerable Hazara families in Kabul, and many more in the provinces at risk of famine and at the mercy of cold winter.
On February 5 and February 10, 2022, our team on the ground provided cash assistance in the amount of 9500 AFN per family to 156 families in the impoverished Hazara neighborhoods of West of Kabul. During a separate campaign in January 2022, with the help of a community leader, we provided cash assistance in the amount of 5000 AFN per family for 29 families in another underserved neighborhood in Kabul.
On February 02, 2022, our team in Daykundi province provided cash assistance in the amount of 9850 AFN per family for 50 families in Nili and Sharestan, Daykundi.
Most of the aid recipients were widowed women, victims of terrorist attacks, and providers of their families who had fallen on hard times since the collapse of the Afghan government. Many were internally displaced who had lost their husbands to violence with their lands and property confiscated in the past six months.
Furthermore, the aid assistance included $4800 in scholarships for 15 Sayed-Ul-Shuhada students at Pegah High School (Sayed -ul-Shuhada Girls School was attacked in May 2020), and $2400 as COVID support for 24 teachers at Rahnaward High School.
Additionally, $5000 USD was distributed as cash assistance to approximately 50 refugee families in Quetta Pakistan.
The total aid package amounted to 33,260 USD.
From this aid package of $33,360 - $25,860 was from the Foundation's Humanitarian Fund and $7400 from the Foundation's COVID-19 Fund.
This lifesaving assistance was possible due to the generous grants from GlobalGiving’s Afghanistan’s Emergency Response, Coronavirus Relief programs and the kindness of our supporters.
April 2022:
In May 2021, a large explosion took place in front of the Sayed-ul-Shuhada girls' school in Kabul, killing at least 85, majority of them school girls with 280 wounded. Nine of the wounded were in critical condition who could have died or been disabled for life if not transferred to a well-equipped hospital.
With the cooperation of a group of benefactors inside and outside Afghanistan, the nine wounded traveled to Turkey with a companion. The sum of one hundred thousand US dollars was paid to Bashkend Hospital in Ankara, which was to be used until the end of the treatment of the wounded. But some of the injured cost more than the hospital initially estimated, given the number of injured. Eventually, after the fall of Kabul and the cessation of most activities, other aid agencies were unable to continue treating the wounded.
There are currently seven wounded in Turkey and some of them still need medical treatment - Shakila, who has a defective eye area, and Marzia, who has suffered serious injuries to both legs, need long-term treatment. However, the hospital is no longer continuing their treatment, and the families of the two injured cannot afford to pay.
Marzia is in Ankara and Shakila is in the city of Urdu. These traumatized girls need money to cover the cost of their treatment and basic necessities.
The Foundation provided an amount of $1200 on April 16, 2022 to help with the operation on Marzia's legs. We wish her a speedy recovery (please see her photo attached).
May 2022:
Tragically, the systematically targeted attacks continue on Hazaras on the basis of race, religion and due to the community's support for moderate norms and democratic values in the past 20 years. April 2022 was another difficult month for Hazaras. Multiple bombings targeted Abdul Rahim Shahid High School and Mumtaz Education Center in Kabul, and a devastating attack targeted a Hazara mosque in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif. These attacks took the lives of at least 80 with scores injured, according to local sources.
The Foundation has dispatched an aid package to cover the cost of medical treatment of those severely wounded in the Kabul attacks. A detail report will be provided in the next quarterly update.
Once again, we cannot continue our work without your help. We are enormously grateful for your kind and thoughtful support during these difficult times.
Links:
This report contains Parts I and II. In Part I, we will provide a brief summary of Bamyan Foundation's humanitarian aid package. In Part II, we will share a report from the ground on the unfair distribution of ongoing humanitarian aid in Afghanistan and possible solution and recommendations.
Part I:
Afghanistan is facing a humanitarian crisis this winter that is deteriorating every day. Millions of Afghans are at risk of famine and the mercy of winter weather. The situation is most dire and dangerous for those communities stigmatized by race and religion and who are systematically targeted by extremist groups. Hazaras, easily distinguishable due to their Asiatic features, are among these groups and continue to face attacks.
Our team has identified thousands of Hazara families in Kabul and many more in the provinces facing severe food shortages this winter. Recently, Bamyan Foundation dispatched an aid package for the amount of $33,260 USD for some of the most at-risk families in in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The supprt includes funds for two schools as well. This initiative is a community-led collaboration between Bamyan Foundation (United States), Baba Mazari Foundation (Australia) and community leaders on the ground in Afghanistan. The aid distribution is as follows:
We are grateful for the generous grant from GlobalGiving's Afghanistan Emergency Fund and our supporters' kindness that resulted to this aid package. The impact of this support can be life-saving for these families as they try to survive the coming months, but the urgency and need on the ground is far greater. With your upport, we hope to provide a larger aid package in February or March to reach more at-risk families.
Part II:
Management Of Humanitarian Aid Distribution to the People of Afghanistan, Especially the Hazaras
According to the United Nations, approximately two-thirds of Afghanistan's population is at risk of starvation. While this statistic is an estimate, it alludes to two underlying problems with aid distribution in the country. First, there is simply not enough aid to meet the needs of all Afghans. Second, for the aid that is available, lack of proper and fair management throughout the distribution process means that not all communities—and in particular the Hazaras—are receiving their fair share of aid. A recently published report by a humanitarian aid organization about the distribution of aid in different regions of the country is evidence of the unfair delivery of aid. It highlights the difference in aid distribution in Daykundi province and central regions of Afghanistan (home to predominantly Hazara population) with other parts of the country.
The following are figures from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Afghanistan’s “Weekly Humanitarian Update on Afghanistan (November 15-21, 2021)”
The above statistics and the linked report highlight the weaknesses in the infrastructure, or lack thereof, of humanitarian aid monitoring and distribution in Afghanistan. Based on this and other reports, the challenges and problems are noted below and then a set of recommendations and possible solutions are outlined. In the last two pages of this document, challenges of aid organizations like World Food Program (WFP) and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are highlighted.
A) Challenges as seen/witnessed by Hazaras (community leaders, village elders and members of civil society):
B) Humanitarian aid distributed through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) does not reach the beneficiaries in the Hazara areas for the following reasons:
Problems with World Food Program (WFP):
Problems with other aid delivery institutions that oversee humanitarian aid in Hazara regions:
C) Possible Solutions and Recommendations for WFP, UN, ICRC and other aid distribution organizations:
Links:
Humanitarian crisis:
In light of the recent unravelling and collapse of the Afghan government, people are trying to adapt to new realities. The situation is fluid and the future seems uncertain for all Afghans who oppose extremism, particularly for the Hazaras, who have borne the brunt of otherization in Afghanistan – racial discrimination that goes back to over a century and systematic targeting by the terrorist groups in recent years. There is a sense of fear and anxiety among the Hazaras in light of Taliban’s past treatment of the Hazaras and ISIS-K’s genocidal attacks.
Bamyan Foundation’s current priority is to provide urgent assistance to the internally displaced due to the recent unravelling, and the refugees arriving in neighboring Pakistan to help mitigate deterioration of the ongoing humanitarian crisis. There are thousands of internally displaced in Kabul without basic necessities. And not to mention, thousands of Hazara refugees, who have arrived in Quetta (Pakistan) that are in need of assistance. Community centers and Mosques are beyond capacity with refugees at the moment. Our grassroots partner organization and local community leaders on the ground have already began distributing aid to those most in need, and Bamyan Foundation is supporting their efforts to this end. Winter is approaching and we expect more refugees to arrive. Your donation will go a long way towards helping the internally displaced and the refugees with basic necessities in these difficult times.
Forced Displacements:
We have received reports of forced displacement of Hazaras by Taliban in Daikundi province. Until recently, Gizab had a district status in Uruzgan province. Taliban has gerrymandered and combined Gizab with Pato district in Daikundi to further limit Hazara areas from having district level status. The Hazaras have been ordered to abandon their homes as Pashtuns have begun laying claim over their land. The Hazaras believe that this is continuation of the ethnocentric policies by successive Pashtun regimes after the genocide of 1890s, where Hazaras have been continuously displaced and pushed towards the harsh and rugged central highlands and their land confiscated by Pashtuns. We have also received reports of forced displacements from Panjshir province, where people resisted the Taliban. Moreover, there are reports of forced displacements of people associated with the previous government, in Kandahar.
School Updates:
We were in the final stages of providing 115 scholarships (110 girls and 5 boys) for the traumatized Sayed Ul-Shuhada students to enroll at Marefat and Pegah schools but the recent unravelling has put a temporary halt to this effort. This was in addition to our 92 returning students at Marefat from the previous academic year. Prior to the unravelling, we provided scholarships for 104 students (61 girls & 43 boys) in Ghor and 30 students (17 boys and 13 girls) in Bamyan this academic year. The schools in Afghanistan have recently reopened but only for grades 1-6. Our schools are trying to adapt to new rules:
Afghanistan suffered from teacher’s deficit and an education crisis before the collapse of the Afghan government, and experts have warned that these measures will have further adverse effects on education in general and girls education in particular.
Despite the enormous challenges and uncertain future, we firmly believe that the impact made by our schools in the past 20 years is irreversible. Thousands of students graduated from our schools and many received scholarships to elite universities around the world. No one can take their education from them. In addition, we have resilient communities across Afghanistan that have been through turbulent moments in history but have proven their resilience time and again. Education will remain a strong focus of our work, and with your help, we will continue supporting our students, teachers and schools.
We thank you for your continued support during these difficult times.
Timor Karimy + Bamyan Foundation Team
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