Afghanistan Situation
Hundreds of thousands forced to flee due to a worsening security situation.
The imminent crisis in Afghanistan is the latest in a cycle of conflict and loss that has lasted more than 40 years. Generations have never known peace. Since the start of this year, nearly 635,000 people have been forced to flee their homes because of intense fighting.
Photo: ©UNHCR/Hassib Sediqi
Afghanistan is on the brink of a major humanitarian and displacement crisis. Please help us reach refugees and internally displaced people with life-saving aid.
Essential items
including blankets, sleeping mats, kitchen sets, buckets, and soap
Emergency shelter
for protection
Sanitation
including access to clean water
What is happening in Afghanistan?
UNHCR is alarmed by the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and is extremely concerned by the rapid escalation of conflict in recent weeks. As widespread fighting intensifies, the United Nations in Afghanistan continues to call for a permanent ceasefire and a negotiated settlement in the interests of the Afghan people.
The human toll of spiralling hostilities is immense. The United Nations Assistance Mission has warned that without a significant de-escalation in violence, Afghanistan is on course to witness the highest number of documented civilian casualties in a single year since the UN’s records began. Ongoing fighting has been reported in 33 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.
The overwhelming majority of Afghans forced to flee remain within the country, as close to their homes as fighting will allow. Some 635,000 civilians have been displaced internally since the beginning of the year, joining the 3 million Afghans displaced across the country. UNHCR is particularly worried about the impact of the conflict on women and girls.
What is UNHCR doing?
UNHCR continues to respond to the urgent needs of Afghan people forced to flee amid highly challenging circumstances. Within Afghanistan, our teams, as part of the broader UN effort, have assessed the needs of 400,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) this year. Responding initially to the most critical priorities, humanitarian partners are providing food, cash, household items, health and water and sanitation to some 13,500 people in Kabul.
UNHCR encourages cash for IDPs to meet their needs and empower women to access essential services, including healthcare. Psychosocial support and sanitary kits are also being provided to IDPs, especially women and girls.
How long are Afghan refugees displaced?
“Afghanistan’s displacement crisis is one of the largest and most protracted in UNHCR’s seven-decade history. We’re now seeing a third generation of Afghan children born in exile,’’ says UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.
How can I help people in Afghanistan?
The easiest way to give is through our secure online donation form. You can give monthly or one-time on behalf of an individual or a corporation. Your donation will help Afghani refugees and internally displaced people who need it most – our donors make our work possible. All contributions to the UNHCR are 100% tax-deductible.
Where can I access the latest data and reports?
Afghanistan Operations—for the latest on UNHCR’s relief work to protect displaced people inside Afghanistan.
Afghanistan Situation Portal—for the latest updates on the crisis overall, including UNHCR situation reports, funding requirements and UNHCR’s support for neighbouring countries taking in refugees from Afghanistan.
Did you know that 80% of all internally displaced people in Afghanistan are women and girls?
“There have been nights when we had nothing at all to eat,” Maryam explained.
Having been forced to move four times in the span of a few years, her children are unable to attend school and are dressed in worn clothes covered in grime and dust.
A widowed mother-of-four struggling to take care of her family in a camp is among the 635,000 Afghans displaced by the latest upsurge in fighting since the start of the year.
Photo: ©UNHCR/Hassib Sediqi
Donate Today
Please help Afghan families.
Donate Today
Please help refugee families and internally displaced people in Afghanistan.