AFGHANISTAN

Few countries have endured the extraordinary and persistent hardship faced by Afghanistan over recent decades. From ongoing drought, food insecurity, and poverty, to invasion, occupation, ethnic conflict and civil war, and displacement of staggering proportions. As a result, much of the country has been left utterly devastated and without hope. Since 1984, Shelter For Life has worked extensively to assist Afghan communities to rebuild their lives. Our work in the region has been diverse, including: implementing sustainable income generation and livelihood programs, restoring public infrastructure, providing access to financial services, disaster relief and humanitarian services, facilitating community development initiatives, disaster risk reduction programs, and strengthening agriculture and rural development.

OUR WORK:

Restoring Resilliance in Rural Afghanistan

The Problem: Around 39% of Afghans live below the poverty line, with huge differences in living standards between those living in cities and those in rural areas. Further, around 33% of Afghans are food insecure and 3.4 million severely food insecure. Consequently, there is urgent need to tackle the country’s nutritional, educational and environmental problems, and support vulnerable people to improve their livelihoods.

The Solution: In collaboration with World Food Program, our team has been able to address the needs of rural Afghanistan through a number of diverse projects that include: delivering emergency food assistance and school meals, constructing and rehabilitating key infrastructure (including sustainable irrigation systems), improving employment opportunities through vocational training, and disaster risk reduction.

The Impact: In 2017 alone, SFL directed the rehabilitation of 260 kilometers of neglected and damaged irrigation canals, while constructing an additional 34 kilometers of new canal waterways; rehabilitated 255 kilometers of road; planted 28,600 trees; distributed 5,460 metric tons of food and provided 1,500 individuals vocational training.

Funder: World Food Program (WFP)
Duration: 2013-Present