Stand with Afghanistan – Emergency aid for Ramadan 2022

Afghanistan

Project start: 2022

Completed

Target achieved:

74.162 €

The living conditions for people in Afghanistan are the worst in the world. 95% of the Afghan population is currently affected by food insecurity and malnutrition on an unprecedented scale(UN OCHA). The reasons for this include the collapse of the economy, the collapse of the financial and health systems, years of extreme drought and the Taliban takeover with the accompanying sanctions.

Our solidarity is particularly important now! In 2022, we will once again launch emergency humanitarian aid for families in Afghanistan to mark the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

Your donation enables us to put together food parcels and provide food for needy families who currently have nothing. Our fundraising target this year is €35,745, which will enable us to provide for 300 families for 2-3 months.* Can we achieve this together?

Successful distribution of food parcels
Our partner organization OASE distributed food parcels to 307 families in Mazar-e Sharif. This means that around 2,500 people have already been reached by Ramadan emergency aid.

Each family received the following relief supplies to last them for 2-3 months: 50 kg flour, 24 kg rice, 7 kg sugar, 5 kg pasta, 10 kg beans, 2 kg tomato sauce, 1.5 kg tea, 10 kg oil and a large blanket.

The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan

Even before the Taliban came to power, Afghanistan was one of the poorest countries in the world financially. The situation has been exacerbated by the fact that international funds for development cooperation, i.e. almost 75% of the entire state budget, have been frozen for almost eight months(DW). In addition, the sudden withdrawal of the international community, which led to the financial dependency in the first place, has had disastrous consequences: The economy in Afghanistan has almost completely collapsed.

Unemployment and famine

With the economy at a standstill, there are also a number of social problems, as the country’s infrastructure is suffering. Unemployment rose rapidly and most civil servants are not paid. According to UN estimates, 70% of teachers have not received a salary since August(as of December 2021). This also affects the healthcare system. Due to staff shortages and a lack of equipment, 90% of clinics and hospitals are threatened with closure in the coming months(International Rescue Committee – IRC).

The lack of liquidity in the country also means that access to cash is blocked. At the same time, prices for food and other goods rose by 20-30%. A downward spiral that has left over 50% of the Afghan population dependent on humanitarian aid. And children are particularly hard hit: according to estimates by the Ministry of Health, one in ten newborn babies has died from malnutrition since January of this year. The reasons are contaminated drinking water, diseases caused by malnutrition and inadequate or collapsed medical care.

The disaster is taking on ever more dramatic proportions and demands life and death decisions: heating or food in the cold Afghan winter – if the financial means for either are available at all. The devastating famine forces the population to take desperate measures. Many people sell their organs or even their own children to enable other family members to survive(NPR).

Flight and climate catastrophes

Another consequence of the crisis is displacement: In addition to the 3.5 million internally displaced persons, almost 700,000 more people had to leave their homes in 2021(IFRC – International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies). This means that every tenth person in the country – 4.2 million Afghans – is on the run!

The cold of winter and several existence-destroying droughts, which make agriculture in provinces like Badghis impossible, are forcing people to flee (DW). But living conditions in the IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps are hardly any better. Many people live in tents, which offer little protection, especially in the winter months, and often lack access to clean drinking water and food.

Government solutions are needed for a sustainable improvement. The main aim is to alleviate the immediate humanitarian consequences – illness, flight, the break-up of families, deaths from hunger – while it is still possible. We all have a responsibility to support the Afghan people and show solidarity.

Emergency aid in Mazar-e Sharif

Together with our Afghan partner organization Organization of Afghan Support (OASE), we are organizing an emergency aid campaign for needy families in Mazar-e Sharif during the month of Ramadan. We support the families with food parcels that provide food for a family of five for two to three months. This includes, among other things:

50kg flour
24kg rice
2kg tomatoes
7 kg sugar
5 kg peas
1 kg beans
3.5 l oil
1.5 kg green tea

Surpluses from emergency aid donations are used for educational projects in Afghanistan. We will keep you up to date on this via Instagram and Facebook.

Ramadan donations

Many Muslims fast during the 9th month of the Islamic calendar – Ramadan. They abstain from food and drink from dawn until sunset. In the evening, the fast is then broken at “Iftar” with family and friends. The month of fasting ends with the Ramadan festival, which lasts up to three days depending on the region and is celebrated as a communal event.

We would like to make this spiritually and physically challenging time a little easier for families in Afghanistan in particular by providing them with food and ensuring their nutritional situation. Will you support us?

* This is how the costs for a package (119€) of our Ramadan emergency aid are made up: 100€ go directly to the families in need in the form of food, 10€ go to our local partner organization OASE for personnel costs, 6€ are for bank and international transaction fees and 3€ go to the Visions team in Germany.

In recent years, we (the German and Afghan teams) have also implemented emergency aid entirely on a voluntary basis in some cases. However, since the change of government in August 2021, the time and personnel required for research, preparation and implementation of humanitarian emergency aid has increased significantly. Public structures have partially collapsed and information is much more difficult to access.

The economic crisis in Afghanistan and the associated fluctuations in the price of goods as well as the more difficult transfer of funds are also contributing to an increase in costs. We therefore hope for your understanding that we will partially offset the expenses incurred.

Thank you so much for your support, which enables us to implement the humanitarian emergency aid!