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Afghanistan Humanitarian Situation Report #6, 1-31 May 2022

Pays
Afghanistan
Sources
UNICEF
Date de publication

Highlights

  • Twenty-four additional mobile health and nutrition teams (MHNTs) were added in May, increasing the total number of mobile teams to 171.

  • IPC 5 was declared in two districts of Ghor Province, affecting 20,000 people. 45 per cent of the population remain in crisis to emergency phases of food insecurity.

  • May saw a spike in acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) cases with 405 cases reported compared to 51 cases reported in April.

  • Under the AWD response, UNICEF reached 336,068 people with safe water, 215,150 people with AWD specific hygiene promotion and 432,140 people with critical WASH supplies.

  • UNICEF continued to scale the child protection response by reaching 286,732 children and caregivers with a range of child protection services.

Situation in numbers

24.4 M People in need of humanitarian assistance
(HNO 2022)

13.1 M children in need of humanitarian assistance
(HNO 2022)

1.1 M Severely acutely malnourished children under the age of five years expected to need treatment
(HRP 2022)

Funding Overview and Partnerships

The UNICEF Afghanistan Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) appeal is the largest single-country appeal in the history of the organization, valued at US$ 2 billion for 2022. Thanks to partners’ generous contributions, the appeal is currently around 26 per cent funded. This includes flexible emergency funding from both public and private partners, which will allow UNICEF to continuously use resources to respond to rising and sudden needs. Some contributions received in 2021 continue to enable implementation in 2022, together with additional support received this year. UNICEF is grateful to the EU Humanitarian Aid, the Governments of Estonia and France, and the UNICEF’s family of National Committees for contributions received during the last month. UNICEF will continue to partner with donors to ensure sufficient resources are mobilized to address the needs of children and communities in Afghanistan.

Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs

In May, results from the mid-year Whole of Afghanistan assessment (WoAA) conducted by REACH were presented at the inter-cluster coordination team (ICCT) and the humanitarian country team (HCT) meetings. Main findings were similar to those in the 2021 WoAA, except that the drivers of need shifted dramatically from conflict to deteriorating economic conditions, with large disparities between rural and urban populations.

The current Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) results for March-May were released this month, as well as projected IPC acute food insecurity analysis for June-November 2022. There is a slight projected improvement in the overall status of households in the coming months compared to the previous period, with 18.9 million people projected to fall within IPC phase 3+ compared to 22.8 million in the previous period. This can be attributed to the rapid scale-up of food assistance. However, 45 per cent of the population remain in Crisis to Emergency IPC phases. Below-average rainfall in 2022 compared to 2021 is expected to exacerbate drought conditions in the coming months.

A specialized Risk of Famine analysis was conducted in Ghor and Badakshan Provinces. In Ghor, two districts were declared IPC-5, affecting 20,000 people. This was due to a combination of factors, with the main drivers being disrupted services and lack of food distribution. Badakshan, Ghor, and Daikundi Provinces were also determined to be highly vulnerable to shocks.

Disease outbreaks continued to affect most provinces across the country. Between January and the end of May 2022, there were 50,433 reported cases of measles and 309 deaths. While the incidence of new cases decreased following measles vaccination campaigns in 49 districts in March 2022, UNICEF and partners continued to advocate for a countrywide campaign. There was also a spike in acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) cases in May, with 405 cases reported, for a total of 5,683 AWD cases reported since September 2021. This is a significant increase from the 51 AWD cases reported in April. Kabul, Kandahar and Zabul all raised alerts about AWD.

On 28 May, the Taliban deputy spokesman announced the formation of an eight-member committee, chaired by the head of Afghanistan’s Supreme Court, to reopen girls' schools in the country. According to multiple reports, this committee already submitted its recommendations for review and approval by the Ulema (Supreme Council).