Afghanistan Crisis Response Plan 2024

Year

Priority Country – SG Action Agenda on Internal Displacement

CRP last updated: April 26 2024

Funding last updated: October 08 2024

$540,000,000

Funding required

23,700,000

People in need

8,200,000

People Targeted

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IOM Vision

IOM’s strategic approach in Afghanistan will continue prioritizing life-saving multi-sectorial humanitarian and protection assistance across the country and in targeted border crossing points, while laying the foundation for durable solutions for voluntary and dignified return, recovery, and longer-term development efforts. IOM will prioritize gender-responsive programming, through gender analysis and interventions that focus on the inclusion and empowerment of women and girls.

IOM distributes assistance cards to Afghan migrants returning through Spin Boldak border crossing. © Moh Osman Azizi / IOM 2023

INFORM Risk Index (August 2023)	Very High (4/191)
Human Development Index (2022)	Low
Fragility Index (2022)	Extremely Fragile
IDPs (IDMC, Dec 2022)	6,600,000

Afghanistan remains one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. In 2024, an estimated 23.7 million people – more than half of Afghanistan’s population – are projected to require humanitarian assistance. The end of the 20 year armed conflict between the Taliban and the Afghan National Security and Defense Forces and International Military Forces in August 2021, and the simultaneous takeover of the country by the Taliban, has ushered in a new era characterized by the almost-total exclusion of half the population – women and girls – from public life, economic challenges, hunger and risk of malnutrition, drastic rises in poverty, and a near-collapse of the national public health system. The collapse of the previous government resulted in a suspension of direct international development assistance, which previously accounted for 75 per cent of public expenditures, including the maintenance of the public health system, and has led to cash shortages, a weak banking sector, rising unemployment, inflation and a depreciating exchange rate. These challenges come as Afghanistan faces increased demand for services – the consequence of rapid population growth, continued high-levels of population movement and urbanization – and dwindling resources. Afghanistan’s population is estimated to pass 44.5 million in 2024, up from 36.8 million just five years ago, with 52 per cent of the population under 18 years old – one of the highest youth populations in the world6. In 2024, an estimated 15.8 million people will experience crisis and emergency levels of food insecurity through March (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC 3+)). While conflict-related displacement has drastically decreased since 2021, an estimated 6.3 million individuals—roughly 1 in 7 Afghans—are experiencing long-term displacement, many who left their homes as early as 2012. This is the largest number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in South Asia and the second largest worldwide. Afghans, and in particular women and girls, face increasing needs, risks and vulnerabilities in Afghanistan as well as in neighbouring countries. As a result of these combined challenges, the humanitarian community foresees that 23.7 million people, two thirds of the population, will require urgent humanitarian assistance in 2024.

Population growth, environmental degradation, climate change, internal displacement and migration and continued high rates of cross-border return (including forced returns) are contributing to increased strain on limited resources, livelihood opportunities and basic services, as well as an increase in protection risks, especially for most at-risk groups, including women and girls. The recent bans on Afghan women working for international non-governmental organizations (I/NGOs) and the UN have added yet another layer of complexity to what is already an incredibly challenging protection environment, and further constrained the operational capacity of partners. Despite the ban, IOM is committed to ensuring the meaningful engagement of women through continued advocacy with Afghanistan’s De-facto Authorities (DfA) at all levels to preserve women’s inclusion and participation, for both staff and beneficiaries, to ensure a principled response. Negotiations are still ongoing to obtain reassurances to operate in a principled manner across the country. IOM will continue to work where possible without discrimination and where the safety of our staff, both female and male, is guaranteed.

Afghanistan is highly prone to natural hazards, whose frequency and intensity are increasing due to climate change. Three years of consecutive La Niña conditions have led to drought and floods, threatening livelihoods. Nearly three-quarters of rural communities experienced severe drought and over 21,000 Afghans were affected by floods in 2023. Rising temperatures are rapidly altering precipitation patterns across the country, diminishing people’s access to water. According to the 2024 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, nearly two million people live in areas that would be heavily impacted by flooding, 17 million people live near fault lines in high-risk seismic zones, and high drought stress is predicted to persist in 2024. In 2022, disaster replaced conflict as the main reason IDPs fled their habitual residences. Afghanistan is projected to be one of the countries most impacted by environmental and climate changes in the coming years, anticipated to result in significant migration-related consequences. Climate change is increasingly a trigger for internal displacement as well as migration out of Afghanistan among rural and other marginalized populations dependent on agriculture. Data from IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) shows that drought is the number one reason for disaster driven displacement, followed by floods and earthquakes.

Located in a seismically active region, Afghanistan is highly susceptible to catastrophic damage due to earthquakes, particularly across several densely populated urban areas along the Chaman, Hari Rud, Central Badakhshan and Darvaz fault lines. In early October 2023, Afghanistan’s northern province of Herat was struck by three 6.3 magnitude earthquakes within one week, with an estimated 1.6 million people experiencing high intensity shaking. The third earthquake (on 15 October 2023) directly affected 43,400 people, leaving at least 114,000 (directly and indirectly affected) in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Assistance is urgently required to address the critical, time-sensitive needs of the most vulnerable populations throughout the cold months in earthquake affected areas. In the immediate aftermath of the earthquakes, affected families are in urgent need of temporary shelter, food and cash assistance, safe water and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) supplies, emergency healthcare and protection. During the cold periods of 2024, families will need transitional shelter assistance, winter clothing, warm blankets, and heating materials to avert exposure to extremely cold temperatures.

IOM predicts that over 900,000 people are expected to be newly displaced in 2024 (up from 500,000 in 2022). This is added to a population of some 5.5 million already in protracted displacement. Living conditions or families and individuals in displacement, and in displacement affected areas, are rapidly deteriorating due to the uncertain context. Logistical challenges resulting from the takeover are impacting the cost of living, at the same time as there are severe shortages of cash and uncertainty around the capacity and ability for public service delivery to resume, even at its previous limited levels. These disruptions will have significant impacts on people's lives and livelihoods and will in turn feed into migration decision-making.

In 2023 and 2024, it is estimated that there will be between 1.1 and 1.3 million cross border returnees, with the vast majority – just under 1 million people – returning from Iran and Pakistan. Return figures of undocumented returnees from neighbouring countries continues to increase, with deportations from Iran and Pakistan increasing month by month. Those moving cross-border will have a high level of vulnerability and need with the deteriorating economies in both Afghanistan and surrounding countries; at the time that the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) 2023 was drafted, 838,000 returnees were projected for 2023, with further outflow to be anticipated. However, on 3 October 2023, the Government of Pakistan announced its decree “Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan,” setting a 1 November deadline for the “voluntary return” of all undocumented Afghans in Pakistan to their country of origin. The implications of this announcement are considerable. Historically, in 2022/2023, the daily influx of undocumented Afghans returning to Afghanistan via the Spin Boldak (Kandahar) and Torkham (Nangarhar) border crossing points stood at an average of less than 260 individuals. A significant increase has been observed since 15 September 2023, with current returns (as of mid-November 2023) increasing to 4,500 individuals per day. Those returning include undocumented individuals and Afghanistan Citizen Card (ACC) holders.

While the majority of these returns are predominantly voluntary, instances of deportations have been observed since mid-September. Following clarification from the Government of Pakistan that only undocumented Afghans, and not PoR card holders or ACC holders, will be affected by the decree, it is estimated that between 1.1 and 1.3 million undocumented Afghans presently residing in Pakistan will be targeted. Considering the situation of mixed-status households and shifting political context in Pakistan, a number of ACC holders may also return. To respond to this observed increase in returns, organizations working at border locations have scaled-up their operational capacity. They have adopted a joint and harmonized approach to the provision of assistance, ensuring optimal use of resources to assist the high volume of persons in need and in line with contingency plan scenarios.

Additionally, while the primary focus remains on the situation in Pakistan, it is critical to note that any increase in returns from Iran will further strain resources in Afghanistan. A surge in forced returns from Iran would trigger a reassessment of funding requirements to ensure that all cases of deportation and forced return, irrespective of their point of origin, receive support and assistance.

This Plan is in line with and complementary to current inter-agency humanitarian and development efforts to respond to this crisis. As a member of the Inter-Agency Steering Committee (IASC), the UN Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG), and the UN Country Team (UNCT), IOM will continue to work closely with partner agencies to ensure coordination during the implementation of the proposed activities, including with UN agencies, government counterparts in neighbouring countries, international and local organizations, civil society and other relevant stakeholders with the goal of creating greater self-reliance at the local, country and regional levels. In Afghanistan, IOM is working closely with other crisis response stakeholders in line with the Joint Operating Principles and access engagement strategy to which IOM is a party through the Humanitarian Access Group. IOM is an active member of the Health, Protection, Shelter/Non-Food Items (NFI), and WASH Clusters.

IOM will continue to act as Co-lead of the Shelter and NFI Cluster, which also covers Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM), to ensure a timely, well-coordinated, and cost-effective shelter response in Afghanistan. Following advocacy within the Health Cluster, it has been agreed to establish a Migration Health Working Group in Afghanistan. This Working Group, chaired by IOM, will ensure migration health priorities are systematically addressed at all phases of humanitarian response. IOM also coordinates cross-border post-arrival humanitarian assistance (CB-PAHA) activities with relevant UN and NGO partners and is the lead agency providing assistance to undocumented returnees, and currently leads the Border Consortium, which is responsible for responding to the influx of returnees from Pakistan. While the nature of IOM’s relationship with Afghanistan’s DfA remains restricted, IOM will continue to work with relevant counterparts at the technical level to ensure principled humanitarian access and provision of humanitarian, protection and early recovery and reintegration assistance.

In line with the Secretary General’s Action Agenda on Internal Displacement and the Strategic Framework for Solutions to Internal Displacement in Afghanistan (2023 – 2024), IOM aims to lay down the foundations to sustainable solutions to internal displacement through three main pathways (voluntary return, local integration, or resettlement elsewhere), using area- and neighbourhood-based approaches and synergizing recovery initiatives and crisis prevention among humanitarian, development, and peace nexus (HDPN) actors. Under the overall leadership of the Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator and together with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), IOM seeks to establish a fit-for-purpose structure to ensure adequate coordination services as one of the co-chairs of the Durable Solutions Working Group (DSWG) at the regional and provincial levels.

All activities proposed in this Plan are closely coordinated at the inter-agency level and are in line with the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan 2024, as well as the more recent Herat Earthquake Response Plan (October 2023 - March 2024), all of which are underpinned by the UN Strategic Framework for Afghanistan 2023-2025 (previously the Transitional Engagement Framework).

As the UN Migration Agency, IOM is committed to the core values and principles that are at the heart of its work, including the principles enshrined in the UN Charter, and upholding human rights for all. Respect for the rights, dignity and well-being of migrants remains paramount, with principled humanitarian action as an organization-wide commitment.

Since 1992, IOM has maintained an uninterrupted operational presence in Afghanistan, noting that the operating environment in the country remains increasingly complex. While physical access to people in need has largely improved, bureaucratic obstacles, threats, and intimidation of humanitarian workers, as well as restrictions on female humanitarian staff, have significantly increased, hindering the delivery of critical assistance. IOM’s mandate and presence throughout the country has allowed it to rapidly scale up to meet the needs of people in both urban and remote areas, namely IDPs, returnees, and host communities, allowing for coordinated and targeted regional programming approaches in both life-saving assistance and towards more durable solutions.

IOM is present in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan, has six sub-offices, and manages 16 warehouses across the country with a workforce of 1,225 people, approximately 26 per cent of whom are women. Its programming portfolio over the past years has included a diverse range of interventions, including displacement tracking in more than 12,000 communities, emergency response and humanitarian assistance including a robust Shelter and NFI response to disasters, as well as comprehensive protection services. Further, IOM is implementing life-saving migration health interventions including mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), a WASH programme including the provision of hygiene kits, large scale community stabilization, disaster risk reduction (DRR), and life-saving assistance to spontaneous and pushed back returnees including protection case management for the most vulnerable, and support for basic needs of communities in places of high return.

IOM in Afghanistan also engages in resettlement and movement management programmes. However, this is not reflected under this CRP.

Afghanistan is one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world and women, comprising half the population, face unique challenges and vulnerabilities in this context. Women’s exposure to risk and vulnerabilities has worsened significantly since the Taliban takeover, with the DfA issuing edicts that have significantly restricted their rights, including: limiting women’s return to work, requiring male relatives to accompany them in public, preventing them from receiving education beyond 12 years of age, and prohibiting their work with (I)NGOs.

IOM will conduct protection risk assessments and gender analyses to identify threats that different and diverse groups might face while accessing services and assistance. These assessments will be supported through consultations and engagements held in a context-sensitive manner with key and at-risk groups to determine risks and the related mitigation measures and integrate them across sectors and programming. These assessments will be guided by IOM's protection monitoring reports, Protection Cluster guidance that enables field staff to understand the key protection risks faced by populations, particularly women and girls, and ensure that IOM interventions do not inadvertently expose them to further harm. Teams will be trained on protection principles and Do No Harm approaches and ensure that the frontline teams are gender-balanced to allow them to access diverse population groups. IOM places people at the centre of all operations, ensuring accountability to affected populations (AAP) and adapting programming and approaches based on community and stakeholder feedback. This is based on the understanding that affected people are agents, enablers, and drivers of their own resilience, recovery, and development at the household, community, and national levels. Special attention is paid to ensuring vulnerable groups, such as older people, persons with disabilities and single women or female headed households, are able to access services in a safe manner and that delivery modalities are informed by and adapted to meet their needs.

IOM continues to operate complaints and feedback mechanisms through its partnership with AWAAZ, an inter-agency communication and helpline used to register complaints and feedback from the target groups served with humanitarian assistance. Additional mechanisms include focus group discussions, suggestion boxes, feedback forms, and community liaison officers who are trained to handle feedback and complaints in a sensitive and effective manner to ensure that beneficiaries, especially women and girls, have a safe space to participate, advise, respond, complain, and—most importantly—influence the design and delivery of IOM programmes. AWAAZ is guided by the Do No Harm principle, the survivor-centred approach, and strict data protection standards. AWAAZ has standard operating procedures to handle sensitive data and cases related to child protection, gender-based violence, and protection from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (PSEAH). IOM ensures that its “We are all in” platform is accessible in relevant languages to all beneficiaries, enabling them to report any type of misconduct, including SEAH.

IOM remains very engaged in supporting all inter-agency reporting mechanisms where they have been established and are functioning. Having established referral pathways with clusters and partners, cases requiring attention are shared (with the consent of and in agreement with the affected person) in a timely manner, helping the humanitarian response to swiftly align its delivery to actual needs through corrective actions.

All of IOM's projects are beneficiary-centred and IOM works to ensure accessing our services would not put them at further risk, operating under assumptions of safeguarding, equality, dignity, and non-discrimination. Where feasible, IOM will continue to conduct post distribution monitoring and post patient monitoring through a third party to understand beneficiaries' experience and satisfaction with IOM’s services. IOM conducts protection risk assessments where staff undertake case management and protection monitoring. Benefits, risks, and mitigations strategies for those risks are identified, laying out an action plan for each team to ensure respect of the Do No Harm principle and conflict sensitivity. Additionally, monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning exercises take place on a quarterly basis to gather feedback from beneficiaries on the safety of IOM’s programme delivery. Feedback from beneficiaries, alongside data from AWAAZ, is analyzed and woven into IOM’s project operations to adapt its quality of service.

Key Operating Modalities

Cross-cutting priorities

Objective
Saving lives and protecting people on the move

$400,600,000

Funding required

8,200,000

People Targeted

105

Entities Targeted

Internally displaced person, Local population / community, Refugee

Primary target groups

Description of People and Entities Targeted

IOM aims to deliver timely and effective multi-sectoral life-saving humanitarian assistance and protection to people on the move and affected populations in coordination with the Humanitarian Country Team and partners on the ground.

IOM utilizes its Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) tools to regularly track and monitor cross-border and in-country population mobility and associated trends, vulnerabilities, and needs to inform the humanitarian response on the ground. Information is critical to inform immediate and longer term response. To improve the information upon which the humanitarian response is conducted, multi-sectoral data collection regarding population movements, trends, needs, and priority gaps in service provision will be needed to inform decision-making and implementation of programming. IOM’s DTM operates through a network of more than 70,000 key informants and knowledge of displacement trends across the country will allow for rapid expansion.

This is implemented through a participatory approach involving the affected populations in all steps of programme cycles to promote a needs-based and inclusive response. The data collection, consolidation and analysis conducted will inform a range of information products, including the Afghanistan Mobility and Needs Assessment (previously the Baseline Mobility and Community Based Needs Assessments), Flow Monitoring at the four major border crossing points, Movement Snapshots, and rapid assessments in disaster-affected locations in the immediate aftermath of an incident.

Funding confirmed 26%

74% Funding gap

Cross-border post-arrival humanitarian assistance

IOM assists vulnerable undocumented Afghan migrants crossing one of four major land border crossing points (Nangahar, Kandahar, Herat, Nimroz) with cross-border post-arrival humanitarian assistance (CB-PAHA). IOM manages eight reception and transit centres at these border points. These centres will continue to provide assistance for vulnerable undocumented returnees including:

Screening and registration, immediate post arrival assistance including meals, overnight accommodation for up to 72 hours, needed non-food items, multi-purpose cash grants, and referrals to relevant programmes.
Serving as entry points for a range of critical IOM interventions such as protection, health, disease surveillance at the borders and humanitarian border management, as well as for other partners who also operate within the centres delivering other specialized services, such as mine risk education.
Multi-purpose cash assistance to support returnees to cover their basic needs, such as overnight accommodation and food throughout their journey back to their destination of choice in-country with the objective to help them cope and reintegrate in their areas of return. This support will become even more essential given the current significant increase in Afghan returnees from Pakistan, which is expected to continue in 2024.

Funding required

$73,000,000

Funding confirmed

$3,427,510

Last updated: 08 Oct 2024

Plan types

Funding confirmed

96%

Funding gap

Camp coordination and camp management

IOM will expand existing camp coordination and camp management (CCCM) operations in terms of capacity and coordination in the new displacement context, given the expansion of displacement sites and anticipated continuation of population movements following the Herat earthquakes.

This will include:

Deployment of CCCM Mobile Teams to coordinate services with partners and support participation and information-sharing with communities, including monitoring services and advocating for unmet needs in the response to sudden onset disasters, ie. earthquakes or floods, as well as to perform emergency site improvements as appropriate and needed to ensure safe and dignified living conditions.
Continued operation of IOM's established Community Resource Centres (CRCs), which serve as vital platforms for two-way communication, feedback and complaints, referrals, community engagement activities and coordination with humanitarian partners and other relevant stakeholders.

Funding required

$10,000,000

Funding confirmed

$412,911

Last updated: 08 Oct 2024

Plan types

Funding confirmed

96%

Funding gap

Direct health support

In order to respond to the increasing health needs of IDPs and other mobile populations, working in close coordination with the Health Cluster and partners, IOM will sustain and strengthen delivery of essential health care to serve both IDPs and vulnerable returnees, as well as vulnerable members of host communities. IOM will continue to deliver lifesaving primary and secondary health care services, including routine (and outbreak) vaccination, and provision of reproductive, maternal, child and adolescent health services. IOM support will include:

Deploying mobile health teams to travel to and access hard-to reach communities, referring people to specialized services and dispensing free medicine and health supplies, including hygiene and menstrual hygiene management kits.
Conducting health promotion and risk communication activities adapted to the epidemiological situation in Afghanistan, alongside demand generation for vaccinations. Rapid Response Teams will also be deployed for outbreak prone disease surveillance efforts, including screening, sample collection and testing, case management and referrals in underserved mobility corridors, border crossing points, IDP settlements and target institutions, such as public schools or hard-to-reach communities.
Facilitating tuberculosis (TB) programming through active case finding in hard-to-reach communities, testing and enrolment in treatment.

Funding required

$48,000,000

Funding confirmed

$7,270,771

Last updated: 08 Oct 2024

Plan types

15%

Funding confirmed

85%

Funding gap

Mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian response

IOM will implement community based MHPSS with an aim to promote, protect, and support the psychosocial well-being of the crisis-affected population in Afghanistan. Following the IOM Manual on Community-Based Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergencies and Displacement, IOM will target both IDPs and vulnerable returnees, as well as vulnerable members of the surrounding host communities affected by the crisis. IOM activities will include:

Deploying MHPSS counsellors as part of the migration health teams. The MHPSS counsellors will offer family and community support, facilitating socio-relational, cultural, creative, and art-based activities, in addition to focused psychosocial support through counselling, individual and family. Community awareness on MHPSS topics, psychoeducation and referral to the mental health specialized care are also part of the services.
Conducting training for local stakeholders on the provision of psychological first aid (PFA), basic psychosocial skills and relevant MHPSS topics.
Continuing to ensure that standards and procedures are followed, responses are coordinated, and that a common understanding is established among MHPSS response partners on MHPSS concepts and terms, eventually co -chairing subnational MHPSS working groups.

Funding required

$9,000,000

Funding confirmed

$234,017

Last updated: 08 Oct 2024

Plan types

Funding confirmed

98%

Funding gap

Protection

IOM Afghanistan works on addressing protection risks and specific needs of undocumented returnees to ensure their safety and dignity. This is carried out through the provision of tailored assistance at border points and in provinces of return. IOM protection interventions encompass post-arrival protection assistance; sustained case management support in areas of return; and protection monitoring, reporting, and advocacy. These efforts complement and support broader durable solutions planning for IDPs and returnees in Afghanistan. In 2024, IOM will expand its current protection case management and protection monitoring programme to support IDPs as well as returnees. The support will include:

Continuing post-arrival protection assistance, including protection screening and referrals. Protection screeners at Herat and Nimroz border points will identify persons with specific needs (including women/children at risk, serious medical cases, persons with disabilities), and refer cases facing protection risks for post-arrival assistance – e.g. provision of information, referrals, and assistance including family tracing and reunification, emergency accommodation, and safe transportation to returnees’ chosen final destination.
Continuing to conduct protection case management for undocumented returnees and IDPs households with persons with specific needs (including women or children at risk, serious medical cases, the elderly and persons living with a disability). Particularly, households will continue to be supported via dissemination of key protection information, referral to local services including MHPSS services, livelihood opportunities, and one-off assistance such as cash for protection to meet immediate needs and mitigate protection risks (e.g. resort to negative coping mechanisms such as begging, child labour, or child marriage).
Regular protection monitoring (surveys, interviews and community discussions) will continue to be undertaken across all locations in coordination with the Afghanistan Protection Cluster to understand the protection environment for undocumented returnees and protection trends, monitor human rights violations, and support analysis to inform evidence-based advocacy for an effective protection and wider humanitarian response across Afghanistan. This protection monitoring will also support protection mainstreaming, including AAP and PSEAH, across all units of IOM.

Funding required

$18,000,000

Funding confirmed

$8,701,966

Last updated: 08 Oct 2024

Plan types

48%

Funding confirmed

52%

Funding gap

Provision of water, sanitation and hygiene in emergencies

Access to safe water continues to be most critical, particularly in the context of the severe water scarcity affecting most of the country and the October 2023 earthquakes. IOM will aim to provide crisis-affected households with sustained access to sanitary services to improve hygiene practices and prevent the transmission of diseases (including Acute Watery Diarrhea(AWD)/cholera), with a focus on the most vulnerable populations, including women, girls, and children with special needs. IOM will also provide technical and public health expertise to ensure timely and appropriate WASH response and services where needed. Activities will include:

Establishing WASH facilities, such as emergency latrines and shower installations.
Assessment, rehabilitation and expansion of water schemes.
Management of water schemes through the creation of gender-balanced community-led WASH committees.
Hygiene promotion and awareness-raising activities, focusing on risk mitigation measures for transmittable diseases, including COVID-19 and AWD/cholera.
Provision of basic hygiene kits inclusive of menstrual hygiene management items.

Funding required

$55,600,000

Funding confirmed

$32,356,435

Last updated: 08 Oct 2024

Plan types

58%

Funding confirmed

42%

Funding gap

Shelter and settlements

The scale of displacement in late 2023 due to the series of earthquakes in Herat province in October 2023 required IOM to scale up its response amid limited stock supplies and capacity into 2024. IOM activities will include:

Increasing its cash-based interventions (CBI) to address immediate winterization, shelter and NFI needs, contributing to cluster efforts to meet the urgent needs of people, support survival capacities, and prevent mortality. IOM will also expand CBI in general through cash for NFI, rent, transitional shelter and shelter repair.
Pre-positioning and/or distribution of shelter materials.
Pre-positioning and/or distribution of household items.
Designing, setting up/construction of, and upgrading emergency shelters, including individual and collective accommodation options.
Designing, setting-up/construction of, and upgrading of transitional/core shelters and housing.
Continuing as Co-Chair of the Emergency Shelter and NFI Cluster, which also currently covers CCCM, to ensure a timely, well-coordinated, and cost-effective response in Afghanistan.
In order to ensure a timely and efficient response, continuing to procure and preposition shelter and NFI to rapidly respond wherever there is a need across all 34 provinces. Specific emphasis will be placed on expanding CCCM operations capacity and coordination in the new displacement context, given the expansion of displacement sites and anticipated continuation of population movements following the Herat earthquakes.

Funding required

$170,000,000

Funding confirmed

$13,922,428

Last updated: 08 Oct 2024

Plan types

Funding confirmed

92%

Funding gap

Displacement tracking

Through its DTM, IOM will continue to monitor cross-border and in country population mobility, as well as trends, vulnerabilities, and needs associated with it, to inform the humanitarian response on the ground. This will be implemented using a participatory, inclusive and evidence-based approach involving the affected populations. IOM will conduct:

Afghanistan Mobility and Needs Assessment on population mobility trends, numbers and locations of displaced and vulnerable populations, reasons for displacement, needs and gaps in access to services.
Flow Monitoring at four major border crossing points, counting the number of daily movements, provinces of origin, destination, and reasons for movement.
Rapid assessments in disaster-affected locations in the immediate aftermath of an incident to assess needs and impact. In cases of eviction, as there is sometimes knowledge in advance that one will take place, DTM will conduct a pre-return assessment.
Through a Population Movement Task Team, work is also underway between IOM and UNHCR to harmonize displacement data across the country, focusing on protracted displacement and IDP returnees.

Funding required

$17,000,000

Funding confirmed

$1,412,001

Last updated: 08 Oct 2024

Plan types

Funding confirmed

92%

Funding gap

Multi-sectoral support

Includes funding which supports multi-sectoral interventions or cannot be attributed to a specific activity area.

Funding confirmed

$36,528,135

Last updated: 08 Oct 2024

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Women carpet-makers at an IOM-supported company in Balkh. © Léo Torréton / IOM 2022

Objective
Driving solutions to displacement

$139,400,000

Funding required

2,084,100

People Targeted

Entities Targeted

Internally displaced person, Local population / community, Refugee

Primary target groups

Description of People and Entities Targeted

IOM’s recovery and transition programming aims to enhance the resilience of individuals and communities by addressing the socioeconomic needs of returnees, IDPs, and vulnerable host populations in high-return provinces. IOM does this through three main pathways (voluntary return, local integration, or resettlement elsewhere), using area- and neighborhood-based approaches. IOM supports community stabilization by promoting community infrastructure projects; economic revitalization and sustainable livelihoods, especially for women; access to essential basic services, and community cohesion. IOM ensures that it implements activities that:

Benefit both displaced or returned and host communities, while being responsive to the specific (re)integration needs of people on the move.
Reduce the root causes of displacement and migration, by the strengthening social, economic and psychosocial resilience of displacement affected communities, considering vulnerabilities specific to gender, age, and ability, among others.
Revitalize local economic conditions by supporting the business ecosystem and increasing human capital, thereby safeguarding existing jobs and creating new ones.
(Re)construct productive and basic social service infrastructure, including health clinics and schools.

IOM Afghanistan will also target local communities, to enhance the resilience of communities at risk of natural hazards in Afghanistan, as well as NGOs and implementing partners working in the field of disaster management and humanitarian assistance. In communities that face a high risk of disaster and displacement and in line with the Sendai Framework, IOM supports disaster risk reduction (DRR) and disaster risk management (DRM) efforts through:

Improving the preparedness of vulnerable populations living in disaster-prone areas with a focus on a holistic watershed management approach.
Supporting communities to have improved infrastructure and access to water and preparedness mechanisms to protect farm-based livelihoods and cope with environmental and climate shocks and natural disasters.
Enhancing watershed management research to support disaster risk management actions and capacity.
Contributing to community early warning and preparedness systems to mitigate risk and enable a more effective response.
Ensuring social cohesion and accessibility through designing livelihoods support initiatives and implementing livelihoods diversification strategies to promote social cohesion and inclusivity through community mobilization efforts prioritizing engagement with diverse groups.

IOM Afghanistan will primarily target local communities, to enhance the resilience and preparedness of communities at risk of natural hazards in Afghanistan, as well as NGOs and implementing partners working in the field of disaster management and humanitarian assistance.

Funding confirmed 6%

94% Funding gap

Community stabilization

IOM will accelerate delivery of area-based humanitarian, early recovery, reintegration and resilience projects across displacement and conflict-affected communities. This will include:

Developing District/Provincial Profiles to guide evidence-based strategic and essential infrastructure projects, to provide communities with basic services while building community resilience to withstand shocks.
Undertaking participatory community development and action planning to increase civic engagement, strengthen local ownership and identify context-specific solutions for addressing the vulnerabilities of different social groups.
Supporting active collaboration and exchange among local stakeholders and community members, particularly vulnerable and marginalized groups, to enhance social cohesion and strengthen communities’ response capacities to shocks and stresses.
Undertaking community-based monitoring and evaluation to promote legitimacy and accountability at the local level.
Where possible, referrals of vulnerable individuals from IOM’s cross-border and protection programmes will be provided support upon their return to areas where stabilization or durable solutions activities are ongoing.

Livelihoods support, including as described under Livelihoods and Economic Recovery, is an integral part of Community Stabilization efforts.

Funding required

$49,400,000

Funding confirmed

$777,187

Last updated: 08 Oct 2024

Plan types

Funding confirmed

99%

Funding gap

Livelihoods and economic recovery

IOM supports community infrastructure projects; economic revitalization and sustainable livelihoods, especially for women; access to essential basic services, and community cohesion. IOM implements the following activities:

Support to community outreach activities to enhance trust and promote social cohesion at the local level.
Provision of emergency livelihood assistance, including through cash-for-work on construction sites, asset replacement and emergency business grants in support of economic recovery.
Support for gender responsive employment opportunities (which include opportunities for self-employment) for IDPs and their host communities.
Small grants mechanism for targeted high return areas for community-driven programming.
Information and advisory services on aspects related to forced displacement and return such as housing, land, property issues.
Specific support to women and girls to achieve socioeconomic reintegration and foster socioeconomic independence.

Funding required

$68,000,000

Funding confirmed

$1,060,357

Last updated: 08 Oct 2024

Plan types

Funding confirmed

99%

Funding gap

Adaptation and disaster risk reduction

IOM works to prevent, avert and address displacement related to natural hazards and climate change through improved disaster risk management, focusing on high-risk communities that are vulnerable to specific types of disasters and have limited access to early warning systems; in line with the Sendai Framework, IOM supports DRR and DRM and will:

Supporting the establishment and strengthening of early warning systems to mitigate risk and enable a more effective response.
Supporting the standardization of operational guidelines on DRR; and facilitating the development of community-specific disaster risk reduction plans including early warning systems and dialogue initiatives on mobility, risks, and resilience.
Supporting the establishment of community-based DRR infrastructure in complementarity with the repair or construction of damaged or destroyed community infrastructure.
Conducting hazard and vulnerability mapping and analysis to support communities further in DRM.
Enhancing the resilience and preparedness of communities at risk of natural hazards in Afghanistan, as well as NGOs and implementing partners working in the field of disaster management and humanitarian assistance.
Conducting research, hazard mapping, and multi-hazard risk assessments, including historical displacement trend mapping to inform future programming and identify areas of cyclical displacements, and development of contingency plans for the returns of Afghans from Pakistan and Iran.
Engaging community members, local leaders, and relevant stakeholders in a participatory approach to identify and assess local hazards, vulnerabilities, and capacities, with a focus on technology access and literacy.
Strengthening capacity of humanitarian partners and stakeholders on early actions strategies, protection measures, and policy development.
Providing training and resources to empower community members on risk assessment, disaster preparedness, and the use of technology for early warning.