Afghanistan
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›More than 130,000 people benefit from UMCOR-constructed or refurbished schools and health clinics. |
Background
UMCOR established its work in Afghanistan in May 2002. The main office is located in Kabul. UMCOR Afghanistan actively engages in helping the people of Afghanistan recover from decades of conflict and years of drought. To accomplish this, UMCOR Afghanistan implements programs in reconstruction; income generation and livelihoods; health and education; and emergency response.
Integrated Returns
UMCOR Afghanistan helps returning refugees rebuild their homes and communities through holistic reintegration programs that include reconstruction, income generation, and health education. Since 2004, UMCOR has implemented integrated returns programs benefiting more than 50,000 families in Central and Southeastern provinces. In a 2010 program, UMCOR constructed 250 shelters and one clinic in the Khak-e-Jabar and Surobi Districts of Kabul Province. Work is underway on the construction of 100 shelters in Surobi District and one primary school in Paghman District. The shelter construction programs use a self-help methodology that includes beneficiaries in their own recovery. UMCOR supplies the materials and engineering assistance while the beneficiaries supply the labor for their shelters. In the case of families without enough able-bodied members to do the construction, UMCOR Afghanistan provides additional assistance, ensuring that the most vulnerable people receive the help they need.
LIVELIHOODS
Income Generation
UMCOR provides inputs like livestock and tool kits to returning refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to help them secure a dependable source of income. This is a critical part of the reintegration process that enables beneficiaries to have a sustainable livelihood. In 2009 and again in 2010 UMCOR distributed livestock (goats, cows, and poultry) to 850 families in three districts of Kabul Province. All UMCOR’s livestock beneficiaries are carefully selected on the basis of need. Woman-headed households, disabled and elderly Afghans are particularly targeted.
Agriculture
Beginning in 2008, UMCOR has managed cash-for-work programs that employ local residents to clean and repair traditional irrigation systems in Kabul Province. Some 218 kariz tunnels have been rehabilitated, bringing much-needed water to the district’s agricultural land and some 17,000 meters of streams have been improved through cleaning and rehabilitation, reducing water waste, flooding, and damage to district infrastructure and increasing access to irrigation. In tandem with this effort, UMCOR has distributed and assisted in the planting of more than 65,000 apple and apricot trees by over 3,000 families. With this assistance, recent returnees will begin to rebuild their traditional agricultural livelihoods in their homeland.
HEALTH
UMCOR builds needed health infrastructure and provides training in rural areas where health services are inaccessible to many. UMCOR has provided midwife training and maternity kits for female community health workers in 198 villages of Surobi District, Kabul Province. The training curriculum, which follows Ministry of Public Health guidelines, includes antenatal care, delivery, post-natal care, and control of post-partum hemorrhage. An estimated 27,000 women in the area will benefit from the presence of these trained birth attendants. UMCOR is continuing with training activities for an additional 202 women in 101 villages of Deh Sabz and Khak-e-Jabar Districts with the goal of improving access to maternal and child as well as basic healthcare for more than 11,000 people.
UMCOR Afghanistan's holistic approach to the reintegration of returning refugee and IDP families includes health and sanitation training in an effort to improve their health and wellbeing. Provision of hygienic latrines and water points is also an important aspect of UMCOR's approach to health promotion.
EMERGENCY RESPONSE
UMCOR regularly distributes emergency humanitarian supplies including winterization materials such as blankets, wood burning stoves, and firewood. This support for basic needs enables many families to survive the winter in temporary accommodations or newly built shelters.
In response to sudden, large scale flooding across parts of eastern Afghanistan in 2010, UMCOR provided tents to 350 displaced families in Logar Province.
PARTNERS IN OUR WORK
UMCOR Afghanistan works with a variety of partners to make our work possible. In addition to the private funds we receive through The United Methodist Church we also receive support from the following:
US Department of State, Bureau of Population, Migration and Refugees
