Afghanistan: Humanitarian Response Plan 2023 Response Overview (1 January - 31 December 2023)

OVERVIEW

From January to December 2023, humanitarian actors in Afghanistan assisted 26.3(1) million individuals with food and livelihood support, 16.5 million with healthcare, 9.9 million with water, sanitation, and hygiene, 5.7 million children and pregnant/lactating women with nutrition assistance, 3.5 million with protection support, 2 million children with education, and 1 million with emergency shelter and non-food items.

In total, the humanitarian response reached 32.1 million people in 2023, with 27.6 million directly benefiting. Funding for these initiatives relied on $850 million carried over from 2022, supplemented by new funding in 2023 (amounting to $1.47 billion by December – less than half of what was required). Due to limited resources, there were fewer rounds of food assistance and reduced rations. Consequently, 18 million individuals in IPC 3+ areas did not receive food aid, and 3.4 million people received half rations, including those in IPC 4 areas.

Existing bans on Afghan women working for I/NGOs and the UN continue to add complexity to the already challenging operational and protection environment. Despite these challenges, the humanitarian community is working towards an expanded response, prioritizing quality through risk mitigation and common tools to ensure minimum standards for quality programming.

Given the evolving operational context, the 2023 HRP was revised in May to evaluate the accuracy of initial planning assumptions and make necessary adjustments to the response strategy. In light of the revision, humanitarian partners aimed to reach 21.3 million people with a budget of $3.2 billion throughout 2023, including $2.26 billion to cover unmet needs between June and December.

In the coming months, millions of people who have received assistance will require ongoing support to address various needs such as food, cash, health- care, education, suitable shelter, and access to water. In addition, returnees from Pakistan and those affected by the October earthquakes in Herat Province will continue to require assistance to address urgent, life-saving needs. As of December, critical supplies for Health, Nutrition, Child Protection, WASH, and FSAC clusters face pipeline break risks due to funding gaps. Funding to support early procurement and delivery of core supplies will remain crucial to manage delays at borders, navigate disruptions in markets, and deliver relief items in highly affected areas.

(1) FSAC uses the IPC Phase 3+ population as its target, blending livelihoods with food assistance efforts. In 2023, FSAC reached 26.3 million people, with food assistance and livelihood support, exceeding the overall target by 138 per cent. Of this total, 16.43 million received food assistance, while 12.51 million received livelihood support. Notably, 7.16 million individuals solely received livelihood assistance in areas where no food assistance was provided, and 2.48 million received livelihood support without food assistance. However, due to system reporting limitations, FSAC’s beneficiary count resulted in some duplication between beneficiaries who received multiple assistance modalities. FSAC reach calculation methodology is under review to avoid duplication in 2024.