Operation reporting
Overview
Operational environment
Afghanistan remained the largest and most protracted refugee situation in the region. Renewed insecurity, conflict and drought drove displacement in Afghanistan in 2018, with an estimated 270,000 conflict-displaced IDPs and 230,000 displaced by drought. The displacement crisis had a significant impact on the country’s existing services, limiting absorption capacity and creating a challenging environment for the sustainable reintegration of returnees and IDPs.
During the year, UNHCR facilitated the voluntary repatriation of some 15,700 Afghan refugees – a decrease of 73% compared to 2017. The reduction in returns can be seen, in part, as a result of the challenging security environment, incipient political transitions, uncertainty regarding ongoing peace processes and the lack of economic opportunities in many parts of the country.
Population trends
At year end, the total number of people of concern to UNHCR in Afghanistan stood at 2.76 million. This included 15,700 Afghan refugees who returned and 72,200 persons who fled North Waziristan, Pakistan in 2014.
UNHCR estimates that at least 2 million Afghans were displaced countrywide due to conflict and natural disasters at the end of 2018, including people displaced internally in previous years.
Key achievements
The application of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) in Afghanistan (announced July 2018), supports the alignment of national strategies with regional frameworks – including the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees (SSAR) – through a whole of society and whole of community approach.
In order to promote community empowerment and peaceful co-existence, UNHCR implemented community-based protection (CBP) projects in 61 communities across the country, benefiting some 440,000 refugees, returnees, IDPs and members of host communities. Activities included a range of infrastructure development projects under the WASH, health and education sectors and contributed to facilitate returns and reintegration.
As part of the coordinated UN response to the drought in the western region (Herat and Badghis), UNHCR urgently procured and delivered 15,100 family tents. The Office also provided tents, kitchen sets, hygiene kits, and non-food items to some 14,000 households who had been displaced due to conflict. UNHCR’s winterization activities were planned in coordination with the Government of Afghanistan and emergency shelter/NFI cluster, ensuring that vulnerable families received assistance in a timely manner.
Unmet needs
Due to funding shortages, the Office was unable to implement some 40% of its planned CBP projects in 2018. UNHCR’s programme for persons with specific needs was only able to provide a limited response to a fraction of the most vulnerable individuals across Afghanistan. As Afghanistan rolls out the CRRF, the Government will require more support from the international community at both central and local levels to be able to implement the provincial action plans.
Operational context
Issues and Challenges
2018 brought new and formidable challenges to UNHCR’s work in Afghanistan. Some 15,700 registered Afghan refugees returned under UNHCR’s facilitated voluntary repatriation programme (13,584 from Pakistan, 1,964 from Iran and 151 from other countries). Compared to 2017, the rate of refugee returns decreased by 73%, largely as a result of the deteriorating security situation in many parts of Afghanistan and an improved protection environment for refugees in the Islamic Republics of Pakistan and Iran.
Afghanistan continued to face a deteriorating security situation in 2018, with widespread instability and violence bringing about significant internal displacement across the country, along with a record number of civilian casualties. According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), 3,804 civilians were killed and 7,189 were injured in 2018, reflecting a 5% increase compared to the 10,453 total causalities reported in 2017. With the presidential elections planned for September 2019, ongoing peace negotiations, and a potential US military withdrawal, the political and security situation in the country remains uncertain.
Over 343,000 Afghans were displaced due to conflict in 2018, while at the same time one of the worst droughts displaced at least 250,000 Afghans and impacted the lives of more than 3 million people across the country. An estimated 2 million IDPs countrywide severely overstretched existing services, and in many locations Afghan authorities had little or no capacity to extend humanitarian assistance and expand services to accommodate new arrivals. While national frameworks to address the needs of returned Afghans and IDPs have been developed in line with international standards, implementation in the field remains a major challenge, largely due to the lack of technical expertise and limited resources.
According to the World Bank’s “Afghanistan Living Conditions Survey” (July 2018), more than half of the country’s population lives below the national poverty line, earning less than $1 per day. More than four out of five adults (ages 25 and above) have not completed any level of education. A quarter of the labour force is unemployed, and 80% of employment is vulnerable and insecure. Afghans share a very strong sense of community, and host communities are usually receptive towards IDPs and returnees. However, due to prevailing extreme poverty community resources and resilience are limited and criminality has increased due to the dire economic situation, particularly in Kabul.
The deteriorating security situation and the country’s limited absorption capacity posed significant challenges for the sustainable reintegration of returnees and IDPs. Key protection risks included: the lack of access to adequate shelter, healthcare, education and documentation; limited viable livelihood opportunities, often resulting in negative coping mechanisms (e.g., exploitative working conditions, child labour, early or forced marriage and debt); threats of violence and forced recruitment by anti-government elements (AGEs); high rates of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV); and death or injury from conflict, improvised explosive devices and explosive remnants of war (especially among children).
The geographical scope of the conflict continued to limit humanitarian access and, as a result, returnees and IDPs in hard-to-reach areas, including areas controlled or contested by AGEs, faced even greater vulnerabilities. Afghanistan hosts some 75,500 Pakistani refugees who fled to Khost and Paktika provinces in 2014, as well as 450 refugees and asylum-seekers of various nationalities in Kabul and other cities. UNHCR continued to advocate for the enactment of a national asylum law, and a revised draft was finalized at the end of 2018 for review by relevant ministries.
Partnership and Coordination
Partnership has been a key element of UNHCR Afghanistan’s Multi-Year Strategy to facilitate the protection and solutions for people of concern. Closer engagement was established and maintained with government partners at central and local level, sister UN agencies and other development actors. UNHCR worked with the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations (MoRR), relevant government ministries, and other UN agencies through joint programme/programming and coordination to: (i) support the return of Afghan refugees, and (ii) promote and strengthen the linkages between humanitarian and development actors towards the protection and sustainable reintegration of returnees and IDPs.
In 2018, UNHCR continued to co-lead the Return and Reintegration Working Group with IOM, and co-chair the Housing, Land and Property Taskforce with UN Habitat. Through UNHCR’s advocacy, MoRR took over the lead of the Durable Solutions Working Group, with UNHCR, UNDP and IOM co-chairing on a rotational basis. In addition, UNHCR continued to co-lead the Protection Cluster (with NRC) and the ES/NFI Cluster (with IOM).
As an active member of the Displacement and Return Executive Committee (DiREC) Technical and Finance Working Groups and co-chair of the Policy Working Group, UNHCR supports the Government in the implementation of the Policy Framework for Returnees and IDPs and the related National Action Plan. UNHCR undertook substantial work on land issues, particularly as the co-chair of the HLP Taskforce. The Policy Working Group, co-chaired by UNHCR, shaped the new Technical Procedures, which has been finalised as the Presidential Decree 305. UNHCR played an important technical advisory role in developing procedures for returnee beneficiary data-sharing and information campaigns in Afghanistan and in the region, as well as capacity-building and training on the identification of vulnerabilities. UNHCR has also been an active member of the consortium on beneficiary selection for land allocation.
In 2018, the World Bank launched a new programme (Ez-Kar) in consultation with UNHCR, aiming at the economic integration of returnees and IDPs. The five-year programme will be implemented in 2019-2023. Ez-Kar provides $200 million for jobs and productive assets creation in 12 cities of high return and displacement. In addition to the World Bank, UNHCR strengthened its partnership with a number of other key development actors, including GIZ, who has significant resources for reintegration interventions. The partnership has been scaled up with a road map for the cross border joint programming involving other key player such as IOM, GIZ and the World Bank. Throughout the year, UNHCR worked closely with partners, including the private sector and development actors, to promote access to documentation, livelihoods and essential services, and to facilitate the inclusion of women in decision making.
UNHCR’s Encashment Centre for Afghan returnees are another example of partnership. These centres provide a series of services in partnership with MoRR/DoRR, the Ministry of Health, and sister UN agencies, which include basic health screening, referrals to emergency services and vaccinations for children, mine risk awareness, educational information, referral for information and legal assistance to obtain civil documentation (tazkira), child friendly spaces and overnight accommodation. The Inter-Agency Call Centre, established as a joint initiative of UNOPS, UNHCR and WFP in 2017, became operational in 2018. The project aims at increasing accountability among agencies and providing information on humanitarian programmes to the affected communities.
Population trends
Returnees: In 2018 a total of 15,699 registered Afghan refugees returned to Afghanistan under UNHCR’s assisted voluntary repatriation programme, including 13,584 from Pakistan, 1,964 from Iran and 151 from other countries. This reflected a 73% decrease compared to the 58,817 who returned in 2017, largely as a result of an improved protection environment for refugees in Pakistan and Iran.
IDPs: Some 343,000 new conflict induced IDPs were recorded in 2018 due to the continuation of the conflict across Afghanistan, though this is a significant reduction compared to the roughly 445,000 who were displaced in 2017. UNHCR estimates that at least 2 million Afghans were displaced countrywide due to conflict and natural disasters at end 2018 including IDPs displaced in previous years. UNHCR continued to respond to conflict-induced displacement with emergency assistance while also facilitating durable solutions. Immediate humanitarian needs of natural disaster affected IDPs were met through the cluster mechanism as part of the interagency IDP response, and UNHCR continued to lead the Protection and Emergency Shelter/NFI Clusters.
Refugees and asylum-seekers: Afghanistan hosts over 75,500 Pakistani refugees who fled to Khost and Paktika provinces in 2014 as a result of military operations that displaced almost half a million civilians from North Waziristan Agency. Around 12,000 refugees reside in the Gulan camp in Khost province, while most live alongside Afghan host communities in various locations in the two provinces where they benefit from the generous hospitality of the host population. In 2018, UNHCR initiated a process of handing over the responsibility for coordinating the response to the refugee situation in Khost and Paktika provinces to the Government which includes building the capacity of the local authorities.
Additionally, UNHCR continued to provide protection and assistance to urban refugees and asylum-seekers from nine different countries of origin, with 162 new asylum-seekers registered in 2018 and 450 people remaining active at the end of the year. Meaningful local integration is unattainable for the majority, particularly for those without the documents necessary to regularize their legal status in Afghanistan. Most remain marginalized with limited access to jobs in the informal economy. Voluntary repatriation is generally not possible, while resettlement opportunities remained extremely limited, with only nine refugees departing for resettlement during the year and two others being accepted by third countries pending departure.
Results
The Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees (SSAR) was revised and validated for 2018 and 2019 in close consultation with the Governments of the Islamic Republics of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan and UNHCR Offices in the region. In July 2018, Afghanistan officially announced its decision to join the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF). The application of the CRRF in Afghanistan will reinforce the alignment of national strategies with regional frameworks, including the SSAR, through a whole-of-society and whole-of-community approach.
In 2018 a total of 6,703 persons with specific needs were identified, of whom 5,574 were provided directly with cash and in-kind assistance, while 1,420 were referred to other agencies for specialized services (including some who were assisted directly by UNHCR and also referred to partners).
In order to promote community empowerment and peaceful co-existence, UNHCR implemented 61 Community-Based Protection (CBP) projects across the country in 2018. Activities comprised a range of infrastructure development projects including: the rehabilitation and construction of irrigation canals, drainage channels, pipe schemes, water points, sanitation facilities, and bore wells; access roads, flood protection walls, and culverts; youth council buildings, community centres, schools, vocational training centres, health facilities, and a micro hydro power facility. In total, these activities benefited more than 439,000 refugees, returnees, IDPs and members of host communities both directly and indirectly.
In addition, 374 individuals, mostly youth and women, were supported in establishing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). An additional 1,784 youth (men and women) benefited from multi-sector livelihoods support and market-based skills training, and 440 youth (mostly girls) learned ‘programming and coding’ and other computer skills in three internet cafés established by UNHCR.
Around 400 vulnerable households received shelter improvement support. A total of 212,141 Afghans (109,969 females and 102,172 males) were profiled through protection monitoring carried out at different stages of displacement, including refugees and asylum-seekers in urban areas and in Khost and Paktika provinces. This process had a strong focus on the identification of SGBV cases. Through these efforts and other activities, a total of 514 SGBV cases were identified and addressed over the course of 2018 through an interagency and multi-sectoral response.
UNHCR continued to provide emergency shelter and non-food items to people displaced from conflict and natural disasters. As part of the UN response to the drought in the western region (Herat and Badghis), UNHCR urgently procured and delivered (through air and road) 15,100 tents. These tents were then handed over to the Emergency Shelter/Non-Food Items (ES/NFI) Cluster NGO members for distribution to the displaced families.
In addition, UNHCR provided tents, kitchen sets, hygiene kits, and non-food items together with other humanitarian agencies to 13,936 households displaced due to the conflicts. A total of 26,107 households received winterization assistance from UNHCR, which include 11,931 refugee households, 12,047 returnee and IDP households and 2,192 host community households. UNHCR’s winterization was fully planned in coordination with the ES/NFI Cluster, adopting the same approach for targeting, beneficiary selection, as well as the standard amount of assistance ($200 per household). UNHCR completed the winterization assessment by 31 December 2018, and the disbursement was completed in the first week of January 2019, ensuring vulnerable families received the assistance in a timely manner.
UNHCR Afghanistan Operation also made progress with the cash-based interventions (CBIs) roll-out. A tender for CBI service providers was launched in late 2018, and will be completed in 2019. This will enable UNHCR to pilot and diversify its CBI modalities in different regions.
Unmet Needs
The protection environment of people of concern in Afghanistan, irrespective of whether they are affected by conflict or natural disaster, has continued to deteriorate, with an increasing number of vulnerable families and individuals employing negative coping mechanisms (such as child marriage, children used as loan collaterals, begging, sale of assets, reduced food intake, etc.). A high percentage of the Afghan population suffer from extreme poverty and their vulnerability is often exacerbated by insecurity and a lack of access to basic services. With millions of Afghans in need, the expansion of UNHCR’s CBP programme is urgently needed, particularly those with the potential to foster longer-term integration among an increasingly mobile Afghan society.
However, due to funding shortages, UNHCR was only able to implement 61 CBP projects in 2018, as opposed to the planned 100 across the country. In comparison to needs, UNHCR’s programme for persons with specific needs (PSN) provides limited response to a relatively small number of the most vulnerable individuals among populations of concern across Afghanistan. Due to the absence of a national social safety net, these interventions can rarely provide lasting solutions.
The fragile security situation and ongoing internal displacement continued to put additional strain on the existing PSN network, and in many locations UNHCR is the only agency providing assistance to refugees, returnees, IDPs and host communities as government service providers do not have the capacity to assist.
SGBV issues are highly sensitive and some forms of SGBV are rooted in tradition, such as child/forced marriage and honour killing. In order to prevent SGBV, more awareness raising activities need to be conducted to change the behaviour of the communities. UNHCR provides SGBV response through its PSN projects; however, most of the PSN network members, including the Government entities, do not have the capacity nor the resources to respond.
In Khost and Paktika provinces, advocacy for individual documentation to facilitate self-reliance is required, as well as birth registration and access to health care, education and livelihoods, etc. With the handover of the coordination of the refugee response to the local authorities, capacity-building and resources to support the Government’s CRRF approach in this area is required.
As Afghanistan is rolling out the CRRF, the Government will require more support from the international community at both central and local levels to be able to implement the Provincial Action Plans (PAP). While information-sharing and management have improved, key gaps still exist. The lack of capacity for adequate information management impacts coordination efforts at regional and national level, resulting in lack of evidence-based and coherent inter-agency response.
Population groups
Refugees and asylum-seekers
Results
UNHCR’s advocacy for the enactment of the National Asylum Law continued throughout the year. In May 2018, UNHCR was informed that the 2013 draft refugee law had been reviewed by the Ministry of Justice, which removed a number of important provisions and greatly reduced the law’s compliance with Afghanistan’s commitments as a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention. UNHCR reviewed the new draft and provided its observations to Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations (MoRR) and the Ministry of Justice. UNHCR also strongly advocated for considering the 2013 draft that which was more in line with the core elements of the 1951 Refugee Convention.
In 2018, Afghanistan continued to host 450 refugees and asylum-seekers of various nationalities in Kabul and other major urban centres, with 144 most vulnerable receiving financial assistance to cover their basic needs. With UNHCR’s support and advocacy, refugees and asylum-seekers in urban areas could access education in public schools and healthcare in public hospitals.
UNHCR continued to lead the protection of and assistance to 75,500 Pakistani refugees who lived in Khost and Paktika provinces. Around 12,000 refugees reside in the Gulan camp in Khost, while most live alongside Afghan host communities in various locations in the two provinces where they benefit from the generous hospitality of the host population. Due to the lack of documentation, access to education, WASH, healthcare and livelihoods remained a challenge for this group.
In order to support the self-reliance of the refugees, as well as promote peaceful co-existence, UNHCR implemented a series of community-based protection (CBP) projects, such as vocational trainings, shelter improvement and WASH projects with a cash for work component. A total of 2,062 households benefited from these projects directly and indirectly. In particular, 240 youth attended vocational skills training, including 125 female, and 200 PSN cases (including 10% from host communities) were assisted in Khost and Paktika provinces.
A total of 119 students (including 64 girls) attended the UNHCR funded temporary secondary school in different grades. Despite school enrolment campaigns, the secondary education project was not able to attract and retain as many students as planned. Conservative gender roles, early marriages, and the lack of female teachers, particularly affected the secondary education of girls. In the meantime, a high dropout rate was observed among boy students due to reasons such as engagement in labour, onward movements and return to their place of origin. During 2017, the participation of children at primary and secondary school age in Gulan Camp stood at 29.3% while in 2018 it further reduced to 12%.
In line with UNHCR’s strategy of handing over the coordination of the refugee response to the local authorities, as well as the whole-of-community approach, a transition plan was developed in coordination with the provincial Department of Education (DoE) to transfer students in UNHCR’s temporary secondary school to the public school near Gulan camp. In Khost, 2,681 households received core relief items including blankets (1,660), tents (22), UNIQLO used clothes (103), heaters (12) and standard NFI packages (1,760). In addition, UNHCR provided winterization support to all refugees in Khost and Paktika provinces. Due to the extreme vulnerability of this group, status-based winterization assistance was provided. In line with the whole-of-community approach, vulnerable host community members were also included through a vulnerability assessment. A total of 7,475 refugees and 1,074 host community members received winterization assistance in cash ($200 per household) in Khost. Winterization assistance was provided in-kind in Paktika due to security concerns. A total of 4,456 refugee families received heaters, blankets and firewood.
Unmet Needs
UNHCR continued to provide cash-based and in-kind assistance to the most vulnerable refugees and asylum-seekers to help them cover their basic needs. Additional financial assistance was provided during the winter months to mitigate heightened protection risks and reduce reliance on negative coping mechanisms. An increasingly volatile security environment and limited livelihood opportunities further contribute to a challenging protection environment in Afghanistan, particularly as the country struggles to meet the reintegration needs of Afghan refugees returning from neighbouring countries and IDPs affected by natural disasters and armed conflict.
There are critical unmet needs in Khost and Paktika provinces, in particular individual documentation, birth registration, and access to education and livelihoods, etc. With the handover of the coordination of the refugee response to the local authorities, sustainable support in terms of capacity-building and resources is needed to ensure the protection of and assistance to refugees and the most vulnerable host community members. The Pakistan refugee situation has been an underfunded refugee situation in the past years. In 2018, three NGOs closed their projects in Khost. In the meantime, a number of other UN agencies and NGOs are considering phasing out. The caseload requires strengthened commitment and support from the international community.
Returnees
Results
The Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees (SSAR) was revised and validated for 2018 and 2019 in close consultation with the Governments of the Islamic Republics of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan and UNHCR Offices in the region. In July 2018, Afghanistan officially announced its decision to join the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF), and the application of the CRRF in Afghanistan will reinforce the alignment of national strategies with regional frameworks, including the SSAR, through a whole-of-society and whole-of-community approach.
At the request of the Displacement and Returnee Executive Committee (DiREC), UNHCR in close coordination with IOM and line ministries helped the Government to finalize a Return and Reintegration Response Plan for 2018, which was endorsed by the DiREC and the Office of the President. UNHCR played an instrumental role in taking forward the DiREC national level coordination mechanism, to the sub-national level by facilitating the establishment of an initial pilot Provincial DiREC (P-DiREC) forum in Herat in order to ensure government ownership and create synergies among all relevant actors.
Importantly, UNHCR and the World Bank signed a data-sharing agreement to enhance joint research on the return and reintegration for evidenced based programming. Further, UNHCR worked with the World Bank to reinforce the ongoing partnership by linking UNHCR programmes to the long-term development projects of the World Bank. Partnerships with other development actors were also strengthened.
In 2018, UNHCR facilitated the return of 15,699 Afghan refugees to Afghanistan, including 13,584 from Pakistan, 1,964 from Iran, and 151 from other countries. A total of 1,477 returnee households were interviewed upon arrival, including 746 male and 731 female respondents, to assess voluntariness of return, reasons for decisions to return, and to identify persons with specific needs. Additionally, an assessment of UNHCR’s repatriation cash grant was conducted with over 3,000 returnee households, which gauged the impact of the cash grant on returnees’ decision making and assessed its impact in the initial stages of return and re-integration.
In 2018 a total of 6,703 persons with specific needs were identified, of whom 5,574 were provided directly with cash and in-kind assistance, while 1,420 were referred to other agencies for specialized services (including some who were assisted directly by UNHCR and also referred to partners). UNHCR has progressively shifted its focus, both at the individual and community level, to build on the knowledge, skills and capacities of persons of concern and their communities through consultation and participation, engaging them meaningfully in all aspects of the programmes that affect them.
In order to promote community empowerment and peaceful co-existence UNHCR implemented 61 community-based protection (CBP) projects across the country over the course of 2018. Activities included a range of infrastructure development projects including: the rehabilitation and construction of irrigation canals, drainage channels, pipe schemes, water points, sanitation facilities, and bore wells; access roads, flood protection walls, and culverts; youth council buildings, community centres, schools, vocational training centres, health facilities, and a micro hydro power facility. In total, these activities benefited more than 439,000 refugees, returnees, IDPs and members of host communities directly and indirectly.
In addition, 374 people, mostly youth and women, were supported to establish Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). An additional 1,784 youth (men and women) benefited from multi-sector livelihoods support and market-based skills training, and 440 youth (mostly girls) learned ‘programming and coding’ and other computer skills in three Internet Café s established by UNHCR. Around 400 vulnerable households received shelter improvement support.
Unmet Needs
The absence of peace and stability in Afghanistan continues to obstruct the reintegration of returnees, resulting in the lack of jobs, business opportunities and market development. Access to education remains an important gap, especially at secondary education and higher grade, reducing the employability of the labour force. 2018 saw a rise in negative coping mechanisms and reinforced harmful traditional practices, such as early or forced marriages, irregular onward movements from Afghanistan, school dropouts, child labour, and more critically, youth being prone to recruitment by armed forces.
With millions of Afghans in need, the scale-up of UNHCR’s CBP programme is urgently needed, particularly those with the potential to foster longer-term integration among an increasingly mobile Afghan society. However, due to funding shortage, UNHCR was only able to implement 61 CBP projects, as opposed to the planned 100 across the country.
Similarly, the target for enrolling youth in certified livelihoods training was reduced from 60% to 40%. In addition, UNHCR’s PSN programme provides a limited response to a relatively small number of the most vulnerable people among populations of concern across Afghanistan. Due to the absence of a national social safety net, these interventions can rarely provide lasting solutions. The fragile security situation and continuing internal displacement continued to put additional strain on the existing PSN network. In many locations UNHCR is the only agency providing assistance to refugees, returnees, IDPs and host communities as government service providers do not have the capacity to assist.
SGBV issues are highly sensitive and some forms of SGBV are rooted in tradition, such as child/forced marriage and honour killing. In order to prevent SGBV, more awareness raising activities need to be conducted to change the behaviour of the communities. UNHCR provides SGBV response through its PSN projects; however, most of the PSN network members including the government entities do not have the capacity nor resources to respond. As Afghanistan is rolling out the CRRF, the GoIRA will require more support from the international community, at central and local levels to be able to implement the Provincial Action Plans (PAPs), which were already developed for some provinces such as Herat, Nangarhar, and Mazar.
Internally displaced
Results
In 2018, some 343,000 new IDPs were recorded due to the continuation of the conflict across Afghanistan. UNHCR estimates that at least 2 million Afghans were cumulatively displaced countrywide at end 2018. UNHCR continues to co-lead the Protection and Emergency Shelter/NFI Clusters. During 2018, the Afghanistan Protection Cluster continued to pursue its strategic objectives of strengthening the capacities and coverage of protection actors in the field, as well as cooperation with UNAMA on common advocacy and monitoring related to protection of civilians issues. The Protection Incident Monitoring System (PIMS) was rolled out in the western and central regions, with further roll out for the other regions planned for 2019.
The ES/NFI cluster’s strategic priorities were to support access to basic lifesaving assistance, and to ensure adequate coordination mechanisms and response capacities at national and regional levels. In support to the drought response in the western region and with support from the Global Shelter Cluster, UNHCR facilitated the deployment of a Site Coordinator and Site Planner to strengthen the coordination in the field. UNHCR further supported the Cluster coordination by regular deployment of national cluster coordinators to the regions on a rotating basis.
In 2018, UNHCR continued to use robust protection tools, strengthening strategic and operational protection framework to reduce the exposure of conflict-affected communities. To that end, UNHCR widely employed protection monitoring, including protection incident monitoring that was rolled out countrywide, with the support of the Protection Cluster. Overall, UNHCR reached 212,141 people through protection monitoring during the year, having identified core protection concerns in child protection, SGBV, physical safety and root causes of displacement.
To complement protection monitoring efforts, UNHCR conducted some 15,000 interviews with IDPs and members of host communities, along with returnees. Among notable findings of these protection monitoring exercises, 2018 saw a rise in the number of persons of concern resorting to negative coping mechanisms, particularly those that affect or involve children.
In 2018, UNHCR continued to provide emergency shelter and non-food items to people displaced from conflict and natural disasters. As part of the UN response to the drought in Herat and Badghis, UNHCR urgently procured and delivered (through air and road) a total of 15,100 tents. These tents were subsequently handed over to Shelter/NFI NGO Cluster members for distribution to the displaced families. In addition, UNHCR provided tents, kitchen sets, hygiene kits, and non-food items together with other humanitarian agencies to 13,936 families displaced due to the conflicts.
A total of 30,102 households received winterization assistance from UNHCR, which included 11,044 refugee households, 15,967 returnee and IDP households and 3,091 host community households. UNHCR’s winterization was fully planned in coordination with the Shelter/NFI Cluster, adopting the same approach for targeting and beneficiary selection, as well as the standard amount of assistance ($200 per household).
A number of measures were put in place to strengthen the oversight of the process, including: a) Mandatory use of the KoBo toolbox in conducting assessments; b) third-party monitoring during the distributions; c) an additional layer of reconciliation introduced and performed by the Country Office; and d) anti-fraud leaflets which were distributed to all beneficiaries during the assessment and distribution, complemented by a centralised anti-fraud hotline managed by the Protection Unit in the Country Office. UNHCR completed the winterization assessment by 31 December 2018, and the disbursement was completed in the first week of January 2019, ensuring vulnerable families to receive the assistance in a timely manner.
Unmet Needs
The protection environment of people of concern in Afghanistan, irrespective of whether they are affected by conflict or natural disaster, has continued to deteriorate. IDPs consistently employ negative coping mechanisms (such as child marriage, children used as loan collaterals, begging, sale of assets, reduced food intake, etc.). A high percentage of the Afghan population suffer from extreme poverty, and their vulnerability is often exacerbated by insecurity and the lack of access to basic services. UNHCR’s resources are very limited in comparison to the overwhelming needs in Afghanistan.
UNHCR’s winterization assessment found that over 80% of the assessed families were facing economic hardship and having protection vulnerabilities. The national social safety net is largely absent, and the national resources and service providers in supporting vulnerable families are very limited. While UNHCR maintains a contingency stock of NFIs for 20,000 households, it is evident that the resources were insufficient to cover the needs of IDPs.
UNHCR is committed to shift its focus to CBIs whenever possible; however, during emergencies, NFI distribution remains one of the quickest and most effective means in addressing urgent needs, especially as areas hosting displaced population often do not have a market to supply the NFIs locally, making cash distribution a non-viable option. However apart from the 15,100 tents UNHCR provided for the drought response, the Operation did not receive any contribution for NFI distribution in 2018.
In the Protection Cluster, the drought response has greatly hindered the activities of protection actors throughout the country, as there were limited funding opportunities for the conflict situation beyond April 2018. This has greatly impacted protection services for conflict-related people of concern. While information-sharing and management have improved, key gaps still existed.
The lack of capacity for adequate information management impacted coordination efforts at regional and national level resulting in the lack of evidence-based and coherent inter-agency response.
Objectives
Protection from effects armed conflict
Internally displaced
Results and Impact
In 2018, the conflict in Afghanistan continued unabated and reportedly reached an all-time high in terms of the number of civilian casualties since 2014, with continued fragmentation of anti-government elements (AGEs). Along with targeted acts of violence, intimidation and harassment by AGEs against civilian populations, 2018 saw an attack on Ghazni city that alone caused the internal displacement of 37,000 people, with many individuals and families trapped inside the city having been unable to flee. Coerced movements of civilian populations continued, and these can be attributed to ongoing changes of territorial control lines. Due to the conflict, a quarter of all districts of the country (106 out of 401) have a conflict-severity score of four (out of five) due to the high levels of displacement, armed clashes, air strikes and civilian casualties experienced by communities living in these locations.
Over the course of 2018 more than 343,000 Afghans were internally displaced due to the conflict, along with more than 250,000 who left their homes due to the ongoing drought affecting large parts of the country.
In 2018, UNHCR continued to use robust protection tools, strengthening the strategic and operational protection framework, to reduce the exposure of conflict-affected communities. To that end, UNHCR widely employed protection monitoring, including protection incident monitoring with the support of Protection Cluster that was rolled out countrywide. UNHCR protection monitoring data has been used to collect evidence-based data to inform policy and planning. During the year, UNHCR engaged in an operation-wide effort to review and update existing SOPs for protection monitoring to make them more robust, flexible and effective.
Overall, a total of 212,141 were reached through UNHCR’s protection monitoring missions in 2018, and through this process the operation identified core protection concerns in child protection, SGBV, physical safety and root causes of displacement. In addition, the needs for food and other core release items, water and sanitation, livelihoods and shelter which had direct protection implications were identified. To complement protection monitoring efforts, in 2018 UNHCR conducted some 15,000 interviews with IDPs and members of host communities, along with returnees.
Among notable findings of these protection monitoring exercises, 2018 saw a rise in the number of people of concern resorting to negative coping mechanisms, particularly those that affect or involve children.
Reintegration
Returnees
Results and Impact
Significant efforts were made to highlight UNHCR’s role in reintegration of Afghan returnees, including advocacy to ensure UNHCR remained at the forefront of discussions within the One UN approach. In 2018, the operation expanded the community-based protection (CBP) programme to address protection risks as part of the centrality of protection and reintegration efforts.
Apart from UNHCR’s role in reintegration process, stronger advocacy is underway to ensure that longer-term needs of returnees are addressed by development actors.
Through UNHCR advocacy, the Durable Solutions Working Group, formerly led by UNHCR is now chaired by the MoRR and co-chaired on a rotational basis by UNHCR, UNDP and IOM.
UNHCR, as the co-chair of the Housing, Land and Property (HLP) Taskforce, put tremendous efforts and resources into the formulation of a new Presidential Decree for land allocation. The Presidential Decree 305 was signed by the President in August 2018, (superseding Presidential Decree 104) for governing the allocation of land to returnees and protracted IDPs with no prospect for return, and is expected to provide an impetus to land allocation.
The UN took a comprehensive review of its work and developed a joint, inclusive framework of support for the Afghanistan National Peace and Development Framework (ANPDF 2017-2021); UNHCR and IOM led the Return and Reintegration thematic area. Partnerships were established to ensure a continuum from humanitarian to development and to promote the inclusion of returnees and IDPs into national priority programmes (NPPs). Such partnerships included UNDP, FAO, WFP, WB, GIZ, ministries and departments under special programmes.
Importantly, UNHCR and the World Bank (WB) signed a data sharing agreement to enhance joint research on the return and reintegration for evidenced based programming. Further, UNHCR worked with the World Bank to reinforce the ongoing partnership and link UNHCR’s CBP projects to the WB’s long-term development projects. An example is the field level partnership, established with WB-funded Citizens Charter Programme and Returnee Enterprise Development Programme (REDP) in coordination with relevant local authorities. UNHCR data has been used by the World Bank to inform the selection of the sites for projects in high return and IDP areas under the Citizens Charter programme.
In 2018, as part of UNHCR’s Multi-Year Strategy, the operation established joint action plans to further strengthen the partnership with IOM on the return and reintegration.
Self-reliance and livelihoods
Returnees
Results and Impact
In order to address the key issues of ‘vulnerability, diversification, and access to livelihoods opportunities and economic integration prospects’ in line with the SSAR and the Government’s policy framework for returnees and IDPs, UNHCR adopted an integrated approach to promoting self-reliance and expanding market opportunities for persons of concern. Particularly, the Employability, Employment and Entrepreneurship (EEE) initiative aimed at promoting self-reliance through market-based vocational training, small business development and job placement in partnership with the private sector, and small home-based businesses through seed capital grants in local sectors (e.g. agro-processing, dairy products, greenhouses, nurseries, home-bakeries, bee-keeping, handicrafts, handlooms, carpet weaving, and transport).
A total of 374 youth and women were supported to establish small enterprises. An additional 1,784 youth benefited from multi-sector livelihoods support and market-based skills training, and 440 youth (mostly girls) learned ‘programming and coding’ and other computer skills in three Internet cafés established by UNHCR.
In 2018, UNHCR continued the MADE51 initiative, which links refugee returnee artisans with local and international markets. In 2018, 200 beneficiaries (150 women and 50 men) were assisted to build their artisanal skills with new techniques and were able to produce high quality carpets for the international market. A child care facility for 90 children was established for mothers who were engaged in weaving. A total of 47 students learned Basic English and computer skills, and 15 beneficiaries received photographic skills training.
The CODE4FUN initiative provided an opportunity for students to improve their skills by creating a safe, secure, and friendly place where girls and boys can learn and communicate. In addition to teaching coding skills to develop mobile applications (for iOS and Android), CODE4FUN focused on enhancing students’ self-esteem and confidence through interactive sessions on interpersonal, leadership, and teamwork skills. A total of 440 students benefitted from this programme in 2018.
To promote peaceful co-existence UNHCR implemented 61 community-based protection projects across the country in 2018. Activities included vocational training, job creation, cash-for-work modalities, and small-scale enterprise development, along with a range of infrastructure development projects including: the rehabilitation and construction of irrigation canals, drainage channels, pipe schemes, water points, sanitation facilities, and bore wells; access roads, flood protection walls, and culverts; youth council buildings, community centres, schools, vocational training centres, health facilities, and a micro hydro power facility; and more than 500 shelters for vulnerable Afghans. In total, these activities benefited more than 439,000 refugees, returnees, IDPs and members of host communities, directly and indirectly.
Importantly, explicit focus was placed on women and youth empowerment through market-based vocational and technical trainings, apprenticeships, and entrepreneurships and employability skills development. These activities were implemented in the form of self-help groups, small and medium enterprises development, and social entrepreneurship. Gender mainstreaming remains an important cross-cutting element within the projects. The role of women in the interventions is critical to their well-being given the lack of other income-generating opportunities that are geographically suitable (within or near their villages). By including women and girls in capacity building on literacy training and hygiene education, entrepreneurship and business development, UNHCR was able to strengthen their participation in their communities.
SGBV prevention and response
Refugees and asylum-seekers
Results and Impact
UNHCR and its partners continued to mainstream SGBV interventions in all protection activities and programmatic interventions, including community-based protection and peaceful coexistence projects, protection monitoring, and the assistance to persons with specific needs, which provided opportunities to sensitize communities and deliver information on referral pathways. SGBV awareness activities were linked to women’s empowerment projects, where both awareness-based preventions and solutions-oriented responses were provided. As part of UNHCR’s community-based protection (CBP) projects, specific livelihood projects aimed at offering positive impacts on SGBV prevention and response were implemented to meet the needs of women and girls.
A total of 212,141 Afghans (106,150 females and 105,991 males) were profiled through protection monitoring carried out at different stages of displacement, including refugees and asylum-seekers in urban areas and in Khost and Paktika provinces, and this process had a strong focus on the identification of SGBV cases. Through these efforts a total of 514 SGBV cases were identified and addressed over the course of 2018 through an interagency and multi-sectoral response.
In the area of prevention, UNHCR conducted awareness raising activities with returnees, IDPs, refugees and host communities applying UNHCR’s Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) Policy, including during different international events such as the 16 Days of Activism Campaign, International Women’s Day and World Refugee Day. More than 6,000 men, women, girls and boys participated in these activities.
In 2018, UNHCR conducted a range of activities aimed at strengthening prevention and response to sexual exploitation and abuse, including developing countrywide standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA), establishing a PSEA reporting matrix, incorporating key elements of PSEA and AGD into all Partnership Agreements with partners, and disseminating PSEA leaflets. UNHCR conducted 20 PSEA dialogues with UNHCR staff and partners. PSEA awareness raising activities were conducted for partner staff, including support staff, and persons of concern during community mobilization activities which reached 3,064 people. Based on UNHCR’s AGD policy, partners are routinely reminded to ensure gender parity in staffing, as well as the inclusion of women and girls among the affected population in protection monitoring, programme activities, and decision-making processes.
UNHCR continued to prioritize women and girls at risk in the identification of refugees for resettlement, with two cases, nine people being resettled as women at risk.
Voluntary return
Returnees
Results and Impact
In 2018, UNHCR facilitated the return to Afghanistan of 15,699 Afghan refugees, including 13,584 from Pakistan, 1,964 from Iran, and 151 from other countries. Some 60% of returnees settled in Kabul, Nangarhar, Sar-e-Pul, Kunduz and Herat provinces. Return trends in 2018 from Pakistan were 76% lower compared to the 57,411 refugees who returned in 2017, while nearly double the number (albeit still limited) that returned from Iran and other countries. The decrease in returns from Pakistan was largely due to improved protection conditions in Pakistan, including the extension of Proof of Registration (PoR) cards, as well as continued insecurity, socio-economic conditions and the uncertain political situation in Afghanistan. Returning refugees were provided with a cash grant of approximately $200 per person through four encashment centres to respond to immediate needs and potential protection risks during the initial phases of return to Afghanistan. Additionally, returnees received a range of services from other agencies including basic healthcare and vaccination, mine risk awareness, back to school information and transit accommodation. Returnees were also provided with a free of charge SIM card along with $2 air time per month for two-months. This helped UNHCR to establish a strong phone bank which allowed contact with returnees for protection monitoring and the collection of real-time data on key protection risks and needs.
Three cross-border tele-conferences were held between UNHCR Afghanistan and Pakistan to maintain strong coordination and timely information sharing on protection challenges faced by refugees, before and after return, and to agree on necessary follow-up interventions.
Protection monitoring at the time of return and subsequently after a few months was maintained to assess voluntariness of return, overall socio-economic and protection conditions, and the impact of UNHCR’s cash grant. A total of 1,477 returnee households were interviewed upon arrival, including 746 male and 731 female respondents, to assess the voluntariness of return, the reasons for decisions to return, and to identify persons with specific needs. In September 2018, UNHCR contracted a service provider to conduct some 15,000 phone interviews with returnees, IDPs and the general Afghan population (for comparison purposes) across the country. As of the end of 2018, more than 9,400 interviews have been carried out, and the project is expected to be completed in March 2019. Additionally, an assessment of UNHCR’s repatriation cash grant was conducted with over 3,000 returnee households. This aimed to gauge the impact of the cash grant on returnees’ decision making and to assess how much it helped in the initial stages of return and reintegration.
To supplement protection monitoring, in 2018 a joint UNHCR and World Bank report highlighting returnees’ living conditions was drafted and will be finalized in early 2019. The report will inform UNHCR’s on-going reintegration and advocacy efforts to address protection challenges faced by returnees. A data sharing agreement was signed with UN-Habitat to facilitate the selection of returnees for the allocation of land under the Presidential Decree on Land Allocation enacted in 2018.
Over the course of the year UNHCR, in close coordination with local authorities and its partners, supported the reintegration process for returnees across the country, including facilitating access to social services and short-term employment opportunities. Vulnerable returnees with specific needs were provided with cash and in-kind assistance. Many returnees also benefitted from the community-based protection (CBP) programme aimed at building skills for self-reliance.
