Humanitarian Assistance Project
Since the international troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and the return of the Taliban to power in August 2021, the economic and living conditions in Afghanistan have rapidly deteriorated into an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Millions of Afghans have found themselves increasingly impoverished and in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.
In response to the ever growing economic and humanitarian emergency in Afghanistan, Women for Afghan Women (WAW) has restructured and redirected resources and staff from programs, which were shut down by the de facto authorities in Afghanistan, in order to create a new Humanitarian Assistance Project (HAP).
Since the international troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and the return of the Taliban to power in August 2021, the economic and living conditions in Afghanistan have rapidly deteriorated into an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Millions of Afghans have found themselves increasingly impoverished and desperately needing humanitarian assistance.
In response to the ever-growing economic and humanitarian emergency in Afghanistan, Women for Afghan Women (WAW) has restructured and redirected resources and staff from programs that were shut down by the de facto authorities in Afghanistan in order to create a new Humanitarian Assistance Project (HAP).
In response to the growing economic and humanitarian emergency impacting Afghanistan after the Taliban take over in August 2021, Women for Afghan Women (WAW) launched a new Humanitarian Assistance Project (HAP).
The project was designed based on an extensive, countrywide baseline survey that identified the most vulnerable beneficiaries across 16 provinces of the country. By 2022, WAW’s humanitarian assistance teams had covered 16 provinces in the country and distributed thousands of food and non-food aid packages to vulnerable beneficiaries and populations, including:
- WAW’s former clients and staff, who lost their jobs as a result of the shuttering of our family guidance and women’s protection centers by the de facto authorities and due to the withdrawal of support by many international donors from Afghanistan
- Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)
- Families impacted by terrorist attacks
- Families living in extreme poverty, particularly women-led households and children
- Families impacted by natural disasters, including earthquakes and floods
WAW's Humanitarian Assistance Project operates in 16 Afghan provinces
Context / Impact
WAW implements the Humanitarian Assistance Project (HAP) in 16 provinces of Afghanistan and intends to cover five more provinces, including Kabul, in 2023. WAW conducts regular meetings with relevant stakeholders and coordinates humanitarian aid distribution to vulnerable populations in geographical locations identified through assessment surveys nationwide. This humanitarian aid includes food and non-food items such as personal hygiene packs (shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, etc.), blankets, pressure cookers, beans, rice, flour, cooking oil, tomato paste, black and green tea, matches, salt, dry milk, and sugar, among other items.
In 2022, WAW distributed:
- 6,529 food packages to 5,614 food-insecure families across 16 provinces in Afghanistan.
- 553 emergency relief food & non-food packages to families impacted by earthquakes in the Geyan & Bermal districts of Paktika province.
- 310 food & non-food packages to families impacted by severe flooding in the Puli-Alam, Khushi, and Baraki Barak districts of Logar province.
For more about WAW’s HAP Program, also see our blog, For Daily Bread
