A report launched details how Islamic Relief has been changing lives in Afghanistan since 1992. Across 15 provinces, IRW respond to major disasters and carry out long-term development programmes, including projects supporting women and girls, and orphaned children.
Decades of political and economic instability have taken their toll on Afghanistan and its people, while the negative effects of climate change threaten livelihoods and communities.
Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, Afghanistan’s already declining economy has completely collapsed. Almost 23 million Afghans – more than half the population – are now suffering from critical food and cash shortages, and the situation continues to worsen.
Against this backdrop, Islamic Relief is working to address the root causes of hunger, while empowering Afghans towards becoming self-reliant once more through business training, cash-for-work programmes and other livelihoods endeavours.
Islamic Relief also works in the education and health sectors, and Afghanistan is home to Islamic Relief’s largest winterisation programme, which sees food, blankets, fuel and other essentials provided so vulnerable families can cope in the colder months.
Joining together to support vulnerable people
Islamic Relief remains committed to supporting vulnerable people in Afghanistan and adapting this support to changing needs on the ground. The partnerships with other organisations are enabling IRW to expand the response and reach even more people in need.
In 2022, the organization signed a landmark £16.7 million partnership agreement with the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP), joining the Area Based Approach for Development Emergency Initiative (ABADEI) programme.
The programme aims to boost food production, inject cash into the local economy and support female entrepreneurs in some of the country’s poorest areas. Regular flooding has damaged irrigation in Shekanja village, located in Herat province’s rural Karukh district, making it difficult for farmers to grow and tend to their crops.
Through ABADEI, Islamic Relief oversaw the construction of a 120-metre-long, 5-metre-high flood protection wall, and protected the foundations of an aqueduct that channels water to the fields. Around 70 local people worked on the project each day, receiving an income at a time when jobs are hard to come by.
“The project brought jobs and a good wage for people who are unemployed. Previously people went to Iran to look for jobs, because there was no work here. But if there are opportunities here then they will stay. This means more people can stay here, and people who left their country can come back as now they can earn money from agriculture,” Abdel, a local farmer says.
Abdel is one of more than 170,000 people supported by this programme so far.
Helping children fulfil their dreams
In a country where women and girls have been almost totally excluded from public life, orphaned girls are particularly at risk of missing out on an education. Currently, only girls of primary school age (age 12 and below) are allowed to attend school.
10-year-old Samira moved in with her uncle in Jalalabad city after both of her parents passed away. She has 5 siblings: 2 brothers and 3 sisters. Samira’s uncle was struggling to care for the children until she heard about Khoog Koor orphanage school, which Islamic Relief supports.
Samira is one of the 370 orphaned children enrolled at Khoog Koor, a safe environment that provides refuge, as well as education, for free. Khoog Koor School supplies children with school uniforms and stationery and is well furnished, with a playground, computer lab and science lab.
“I’m thrilled to be able to continue with my education in Khoog Koor School. I’m provided with all the learning materials I needed, and I’ve started to learn many new things,” Samira, who dreams of becoming a doctor, tells Islamic Relief.
Islamic Relief’s work with children also includes our Orphan Sponsorship Programme, which has so far supported approximately 9,000 orphaned children in Afghanistan with a regular stipend towards their basic needs and schooling.
