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This evaluation focused primarily on temporary shelter solutions implemented by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in Afghanistan and examines how they link to transitional assistance and long term recovery measures.

The report covers the last three years of shelter programming, from January 2016 until November 2018. It concentrates on two of the five regions where NRC is present in Afghanistan, with a lesser consideration of projects in Kabul in the central region. It combines a desk review of 29 project documents, seven site visits, five focus group discussions and a household survey which, because of limited sampling, provided only qualitative insights.

Executive Summary

BACKGROUND

NRC is a prominent humanitarian agency that has been operating in Afghanistan since 2003. Its programmes include shelter and settlements, information counselling and legal protection (ICLA), education, and it is also active in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), livelihoods and food security (LFS), and camp management. It places significant importance on helping displaced people in hard-to-reach areas and empowering women. It actively participates in the Emergency Response Mechanism (ERM) consortium, in several clusters and technical working groups. This strengthens its position vis-a-vis other shelter partners and enhances both its and other actors’ responses through positive sharing.

NRC Afghanistan’s shelter programme has a long history and its budget has recently increased. It implements three types of shelter-related activity:

i. Temporary shelter solutions: Emergency cash, cash for rent (CfR), tents, non-food items (NFIs) and temporary shelters provided by the emergency and shelter teams
ii. Transitional shelter solutions: One-room shelters with a latrine provided by the shelter team
iii. Permanent shelter solutions: Durable tworoom houses with a latrine and passive solar veranda (PSV) provided by the shelter team

NRC has provided 6,465 vulnerable households with shelter assistance in the last two years, including 3,675 temporary shelters. It has also distributed more than USD 926,000 for shelter construction and rental support.

This evaluation focuses primarily on temporary shelter solutions and examines how they link to transitional shelter assistance and long-term recovery measures. It covers the last three years of shelter programming, from January 2016 until November 2018. It concentrates on two of the five regions where NRC is present in Afghanistan, the west and north, with a lesser consideration of projects in Kabul in the central region. It combines a desk review of 29 project documents, seven site visits, five focus group discussions (FGDs) and a household survey which, because of sampling limitations, provided only qualitative insights.