Measuring Commitment to Best Practice
HRI 2008
AFGHANISTAN
Three decades of conflict have made Afghanistan the country with greatest number of refugees in the world. According to UNHCR, there are 114,000 internally displaced people and three million Afghani refugees in Iran and Pakistan. The humanitarian crisis affecting the population has become considerably worse in the last year due to high levels of violence. The UN Security Council reported that in 2007, suicide bombers have increased 30% compared to 2006; furthermore, more than 8,000 conflict related deaths have been recorded and approximately 560 violent incidents per month, compared to 425 in 2006. The increase of insecurity prevents humanitarian actors from accessing certain areas, mainly in the south. The destruction of basic infrastructure and the extreme temperatures last winter aggravate the extreme humanitarian situation.
The humanitarian crisis
• Decreased security. In 2007, fighting between armed groups and national and international forces increased considerable in southern and southeastern parts of the country. The rest of the country is experiencing extreme vulnerability due to decreased security.
• Displaced. Despite the figures used by UNHCR – three million refugees – some organisations like the Red Cross recognise that it is impossible to determine the exact number of displaced persons in the past year. Difficulty accessing large portions of the country limits the ability to count the number of affected persons, and consequently, meet their needs. In addition to the number of people affected by the conflict, there is also those affected by the droughts and floods that repeatedly occur. Despite these circumstances, UNHCR estimates that in the next two years around 540,000 refugees who have been out of the country for more than twenty years will return to Afghanistan.
• Human rights violations. Occasionally, fighting insurgent groups puts at risk overall security and the lives of civilians. Moreover, in the south due to the lack of government, the Taliban have grown stronger; their forces have systemically violated human rights, dramatically increasing insecurity.
Sources: ICRC, Amnesty International and UNHCR
Background information on Afghanistan
• Population (2004): 25 million
• Human Development Index (2005): -
• Gender-related Development Index (2005): -
• GDP per capita (2005): -
• Life expectancy at birth (2000-2005): 42.9
• Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births (2005): 165
• Undernourished population (%) (2002-2004): -
• Population not using an improved water source (%) (2004): 61
• Adult literacy rate (%) (1995-2005): 28 (13 for women)
• Official Development Assistance (2005): $2,775,300
• Gross Domestic Product: according to UNODC, in 2007, the production of opium comprised more than half (53%) of Afghanistan’s GDP.
Source: Human Development Report, 2007
Maps
- Humanitarian Situation in Afghanistan, September 2007
- Return of Refugees, 2002 to 2008
Source: Reliefweb.
The humanitarian response
• Main donors. The main humanitarian donors in 2007 were ECHO, with 21.5% of the total amount of aid provided; Germany, with 19.8% and Norway with 15.7%.
• Although humanitarian aid has contributed to the development of Afghanistan, various sectors have criticised the international community’s incompliance of the commitments initially made. According to OXFAM’s report, Afghanistan. Development and Humanitarian Priorities, from January 2008, humanitarian action has not responded effectively or efficiently to the real needs of the population.
Source: Reliefweb, OCHA
More information
• UNHCR. Operational information. Monthly Summary Report. January, 2008. Document that analyses the situation of the Afghani refugees in neighboring countries, from 2002 to January 2008.
• International Crisis Group, Afghanistan: The Need for International Resolve Report which examines the situation of the country, six years after the fall of the Taliban; the effective coordination of humanitarian actions is pointed out as an essential requirement to improve the situation and reduce the high incidences of violence.
The Afghanistan crisis in the HRI
DARA decided to study the humanitarian crisis affecting Afghanistan because, even though it is not officially recognised as a humanitarian crisis, the data speak of several issues that point to the contrary: weak government, high vulnerability of the population to natural phenomena, the existence of a severe armed conflict, thousands of internally displaced and millions of refugees in other countries, systematic violations of humanitarian space, insecurity and impossibility to access those in need of humanitarian responses.
Other crises assessed in the HRI 2008