The issue of Afghan refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) must be seen in a regional context, comprising both Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan and all the way into Ferghana Valley in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Consequently, DRC is strengthening and expanding the strategic regional approach to Afghan displacement. Given the highly volatile security situation and fluctuating crisis scenarios, DRC carries out a comprehensive set of activities reflecting specific local needs and conditions, focusing on improved protection and livelihoods as well as establishing contingency capacities along the entire displacement axis.

Three decades of conflict have left Afghanistan as one of the world’s poorest countries, despite modest progress reported in the health and education sector. According to the UNDP, the life expectancy at birth is 44 years. Only 23 percent of the population enjoy access to safe water and 88 percent of Afghans do not have access to adequate sanitation. The country’s limited resources are further strained by the return of over five million refugees since the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001, and by the large number of IDPs, who have been forced from their lands due to conflict and drought amongst other causes.

The goal of DRC’s work in Afghanistan is to promote durable solutions to refugee and displacement problems, on the basis of humanitarian principles and human rights. In Afghanistan, DRC focuses mainly on livelihood and infrastructure support to the increasing number of returnees and IDPs squatting in the slum areas of Kabul, where living conditions are deplorable and health hazards accelerated due to poor shelter, lack of access to basic necessities, and scarce employment opportunities. Through a participatory and community based approach, DRC also aims at enhancing the protection capacities of urban communities hosting IDPs and returnees. In addition, DRC organizes the Afghan Diaspora in Denmark via a grants facility to take part in the support to sustainable livelihoods of compatriots in Afghanistan. DRC’s activities in Afghanistan, however, also take place within the framework of Danish Demining Group and DACAAR.

Danish Demining Group
Danish Demining Group (DDG) is a humanitarian mine action unit in DRC. In Afghanistan, DDG has recovered and disposed of more than 33.000 landmines and 1.3 million pieces of unexploded ordnance. The beneficiaries of DDG Afghanistan include recently returned refugees from Iran and Pakistan, vulnerable rural populations and the wider humanitarian and development community.

DACAAR
DRC is a founding member of the umbrella organisation Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees (DACAAR), which has over 20 years of experience conducting relief and development work in Afghanistan. Among DACAAR’s main activities are safe water supply, hygiene education and sustainable rural development, with families from the returnee and IDP communities being among the main beneficiaries.