Support vulnerable families in rural Afghanistan

In 2024, the resilience of the people of Afghanistan continue to be tested. The climate crisis has dried up many sources of income, food and water, and the restrictions on women have left thousands of families with a sole wage-earner. And for people living with a disability, their resilience is also under immense strain, but there is often less awareness of the challenges they face.

40 years of war and instability has resulted in Afghanistan being home to one of the highest proportions of disabled people in the world. With 80% of adults and over 17% of children living with a disability, an incredibly high proportion of Afghans have been acutely more vulnerable to the current humanitarian crisis due to their marginalisation.

Human Rights Watch documented that Afghan women and girls with disabilities are even more at-risk, being less likely to receive any kind of education, access healthcare, or gain employment. They face increased risk of violence and it is this marginalisation that creates such a difficult life for those living with disabilities in Afghanistan.

This winter, our teams at Afghanaid have been providing life-saving humanitarian support to families most affected by the harsh winter temperatures, many of which are households with disabled family members.

Take Musafar, a father of 6. With poor transport links and a lack of basic infrastructure in his village, many families like Musafar’s experience poverty, unemployment and food insecurity, which only worsens when temperatures drop and snow comes. For Musafar, things are even tougher, as his wife has a disability: as the only income-earner, it means he has to work twice as hard to equip his family for the winter season.

Musafar had been struggling to find work through the recent economic crisis, leaving his family struggling to meet their most basic needs.

“We had no money to treat our illnesses, and during the severe winter we had no wood to burn. I tried many times to borrow some money to fulfil the requirements of my family but no one was able to extend a helping hand.”

When Afghanaid visited Musafar’s village to reach those most in need of assistance through the upcoming winter, Musafar immediately notified the team of his family's situation and wife's complex needs, and received life-changing cash assistance.

Cash assistance recognises the importance for families to autonomously tackle their most pressing needs, thus increasing the overall effectiveness of emergency aid delivery. By acknowledging that families know how best to meet their own needs, cash assistance safeguards households' dignity and ensures they play central roles in shaping their futures. Crucially, when people living with disabilities are unable to work, this flexible economic support also provides a pathway to accessing lifesaving medicines.

For Musafar, and families in a similar position to his, this cash assistance meant he was able to purchase what his family required to make it through the winter, and also the medicines his wife needed.

“Afghanaid gave us 31,800 Afghani in 3 instalments, which was enough and supportive for us to spend six months comfortably, and now I am not feeling distressed.”

Cash assistance like this also provides long term support. It enables families to invest back into their communities and stimulate their local economies, supporting the livelihoods of local farmers and small businesses in their villages. When communities are bolstered by these purchases, employment opportunities arise and food security improves.

“We feel cherished and happy from the assistance of Afghanaid...Once again thank you.”

Please continue to generously support our work so that we can enable more families to tackle their individual needs with dignity in a way which best suits the needs of themselves and their families.

*Please note, we have changed the names to protect privacy

Hundreds of miles under the tempestuous waters of the Pacific ocean lies the Alpide belt, consisting of the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate. These tectonic plates are constantly shifting and compressing, making the area highly susceptible to natural disasters. It is upon this actively seismic belt that Afghanistan sits.

Devastatingly, this tectonic placement means that Afghanistan is incredibly prone to earthquakes. In the last year, the country has experienced over 200 minor earthquakes, and since 1950, there have been more than 13,500 deaths and countless thousands others having been made homeless as a result of these catastrophes in Afghanistan.

Most recently, on Saturday 7th October, a deadly 6.3 magnitude earthquake - and at least seven aftershocks - struck west of Herat city in Afghanistan. In the following week, another series of earthquakes of this destructive magnitude struck the same area.

At least 1,380 people have lost their lives, with this staggering death toll expected to rise further amid search and rescue efforts. Over 43,000 people have been directly affected and at least 3,330 homes have been destroyed, with entire villages being flattened. In a distressing update, the UN have estimated that of those who have lost their lives in the quakes, 90% are women & children.

In response, our teams at Afghanaid immediately began coordinating with UNOCHA and our local partners in the earthquake-affected districts to mobilise a swift and effective emergency response. Our teams on the ground have been speaking and working with affected communities, and conducting rigorous assessments to ensure we fully cater to the needs of the most remote, vulnerable communities at this critical time.

Part of Afghanaid’s emergency reaction is the distribution of cash assistance. This is a vital way in which we can provide the flexibility that is so deeply required when supporting communities in the aftermath of an earthquake. The effects of these natural disasters vary hugely from household to household so it is imperative that the humanitarian responses are fluid. This fluidity which underlines our response, enables each family to prioritise the support that is most beneficial to themand play an active role in shaping their own futures.  

Our emergency support is evermore vital with the onset of the bitter winter. Millions of rural families will now be cut off from markets, hospitals and other vital services, and, unlike the summer months, will be unable to grow any crops to feed themselves. The previous January saw the coldest winter in 15 years as Afghan women, men and children experienced temperatures plummeting as low as -33 degrees with up to 30 cm of snowfall. 

Already home to 3.5 million internally displaced Afghans according to the UN, and thousands more following the series of earthquakes, a second winter this brutal will have incredibly damaging consequences for so many who must choose between warmth and food.

But neither of these are easy to come by. Nearly 8.6 million children live in homes that do not have enough blankets to go around, and an estimated 3.2 million children under the age of 5 will suffer from acute malnutrition before the end of 2023.

These already struggling families who have been hit by the earthquakes will therefore need continued support to access their basic necessities. This means as well as emergency food, cash and shelter, they also need items like warm coats, boots, gloves, blankets and heating equipment to survive the freezing temperatures, and help to rebuild their lives come Spring.

Please continue to support the people of Afghanistan. Through donating to our earthquake appeal, you will help us distribute emergency cash to Herat province’s most vulnerable women and men, who can then buy the necessities they need, keep roofs over their heads and ensure they can start to rebuild for their families.