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Afghanistan + 2 more

Afghanistan Weekly Field Report (17 - 23 September 2018)

Attachments

Key issues in the past week:

  • Fighting across the country displaced more than 9,400 people, according to initial reports.

  • Fear of attacks on education impacts schools in Nangarhar province.

  • The UN officially opened Awaaz Afghanistan (https://awaazaf.org/).

Countrywide Conflict Displacement

A total of 235,100 people has been verified as having been displaced by conflict in 2018, according to OCHA’s Displacement Tracking System (DTS). This is up by more than 9,900 people from the past week.

Conflict Displacement Alerts (see map & remark on p.2)

Central Region: Around 889 persons were displaced from insecure districts of Ahmadabad and Zurmat of Paktya to the provincial centre Gardez city.
Northern and North-Eastern Region: Some 5,747 persons have been displaced from various districts of Faryab, Jawzjan and Sar-e-Pul provinces to Jawzjan province.
In Badakhshan province, around 1631 persons have reportedly displaced from Arghanjkhwa and Argo districts to Shighnan district and Faizabad city Eastern Region: In Nangarhar, DoRR reports displacement of 1050 persons from multiple Kunar and Nangarhar districts to Behsud and Kama districts in Nangarhar province.
DoRR Kunar have reported displacement of 1085 persons in the province.
Southern Region: DoRR Zabul has reported about 155 families displaced due to conflicts and 15 due to drought to the provincial capital Qalat.

Drought Update (see response section)

An estimated 253,600 people are currently displaced due to drought across the Western Region.
So far, some 690,000 people have been reached under the prioritized, integrated response plan. However, initial results from the Emergency Food Security Assessment (EFSA) led by FAO and WFP show poor food consumption scores of the rural population in Badghis (62%), Ghor (51%) and Herat (40%).
There have been reports of forced eviction of drought IDPs in Guzara district of Herat province. The humanitarian community is engaged to find a suitable solution to the problem Reports from the west indicate the need for the humanitarian community to deliver common messaging and communication to the displaced communities to enable them make informed decision about the possibility of their return to their places of origin.

Community Engagement

The UN officially opened Awaaz Afghanistan (https://awaazaf.org/), Afghanistan’s first inter-agency nationwide call centre, on 17 September. The call centre offers information to people affected by conflict and natural disasters about available humanitarian assistance, and provide feedback on the response they receive. The call center can be reached by dialing 4-1-0 from within Afghanistan.

Returns to Afghanistan

From 16 Sep to 22 September, a total of 14,866 Afghan citizens returned to their home country. According to UNHCR, 170 Afghan refugees returned from Pakistan and 41 from Iran. According to IOM, 480 Afghan citizens returned from Pakistan on their own and 25 were deported.
From Iran, 6,3091 people returned on their own and 7,970 were deported, according to IOM.

Security Incidents as Humanitarian Access Constraints

The Kamdesh District Hospital in Nuristan remain closed and there are reports of NSAGs pressurizing health facilities in Hesarak, Shirzad, Khogyani and Sorkhrod districts of Nangarhar for provision of medical supplies and trauma care for their own use.
NSAGs have banned immunization in Sawkai and Dara-ePech of Kunar province resulting in depriving approximately 6,200 under five children from immunization.
Schools continue to operate in the east region; however, fear of attacks by NSAGs against education facilities continue to affect normal provision of education.

Ongoing Response Activities (see page 2 for details)

During the past week, nearly 146,129 people affected by conflict, drought and flood received humanitarian assistance including cash, food, hygiene kits, latrine materials, NFIs, tents or participated in sensitization sessions on health, hygiene and mines risks.
Activities were reported from Badghis, DaiKundi, Faryab, Jawzjan, Kandahar, Kunar, Kunduz, Nangarhar, Takhar, Torkham (Nangarhar) provinces conducted by ACTED, ARCS, DACAAR, DRC-DDG, IMC, IRC, MEDAIR, NCRO, NRC, UNHCR, UNICEF and WFP.
In addition, water trucking and Mobile Health Teams continued providing services in Hirat City and Qala-e-Naw City, for the displaced communities.
Across the country, partners of the Sub-Cluster Gender Based Violence (GBV) led by UNFPA reached more than 6,402 people.

Disclaimer

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.