Humanitarian community appeal seeks $405 million for critical support to 3.8 million Afghans

Kabul, 26 November 2014 -- The humanitarian community in Afghanistan launched its annual appeal for $405 million for life saving assistance in Afghanistan. The humanitarian community will assist 3.8 million most vulnerable Afghans with food, health care, nutrition, water and sanitation; with a focus on insecure, under-served and hard to reach areas. "Humanitarian actors appreciate the strong support for their work by the community of donors," said the Humanitarian Coordinator Mark Bowden. "I call on donors to continue support humanitarian action in Afghanistan," he said, adding, "Afghanistan must not be allowed to become one of the world's forgotten emergencies."

The $405 million requested in 2015 is comparable in scale to 2014 requirements. The Plan reflects a robust prioritisation of nutrition, shelter, WASH and protection needs, as well as those of refugees from Pakistan. These requirements reflect both what needs to be done to save lives as well as what can be realistically achieved though a collective response by humanitarian partners.

A significant upsurge in violence in parts of the country has caused displacement and deaths, with some 140,000 people driven from their homes in 2014. Military operations in North Waziristan Agency Pakistan saw the arrival of 225,000 refugees (30,000 families) in Afghanistan. Flooding caused devastation for 8,000 families whose homes were destroyed in early 2014. "Significant achievements were made in 2014 and the fact that the current appeal is 60 per cent funded is a mark of the commitment of donors and the humanitarian community to the people of Afghanistan," said Afghanistan's Chief Executive Dr Abdullah Abdullah. "For example, Life-saving food assistance was provided to more than 1.2 million people and an estimated 390,000 people affected by conflict and natural disasters were supported with emergency humanitarian assistance. " he said.

In 2015, the priorities for the humanitarian community are to assist to people who have been displaced by conflict or natural disaster, to provide lifesaving nutrition to the nearly 500,000 children under the age of five who suffer from severe acute malnutrition, and to support the 30,000 Pakistani families who have sought refuge in Afghanistan and families who host them.

Many Afgans continue to be affected by natural disasters. It is essential that they get life-saving assistance, quickly.

The 2015 Humanitarian Response Plan, launched today, sets out a strong framework for this to happen," said the Head of the UK's Department for International Development (DfID) in Afghanistan, Chris Austin. Mr Austin went on to say, "Through the Common Humanitarian Fund, UK aid is already helping to provide emergency assistance to those who need it most. The UK remains committed to Afghanistan, supporting the humanitarian needs and building the resilience to deal with such shocks in the future."

Despite more than a decade of international and government development efforts, from a humanitarian perspective Afghanistan remains a protracted complex emergency where more than 7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. This does not include the many more millions who are suffering the effects of chronic poverty.

Acutely low humanitarian indicators mark the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan: every day 165 children under 5 lose their lives and a pregnant woman dies every 2 hours. Added to this is pervasive insecurity, high exposure to natural hazards, conflict displacement at a record high and the growing slums in urban areas.