Provision of seasonal winter assistance to vulnerable households in Panjshir Province (Anawa, Dara  Khenj districts) ltpgtltspan style="color: black font-family: Arial, sans-serif"gtThe proposed project
aims to provide life-saving assistance to address the immediate winterization
needs of ltspan style="font-family:"gt1716 HHs, and 12012 (1799 people
with disabilities)lt/spangt  in the Anawa, Dara, and Khenj
districts of Panjshir Province.lt/spangtltbrgtlt/pgt

ltpgtltspan style="font-family:"gtThe 2023 Whole of
Afghanistan Assessment (WoAA) already indicates that a staggering 79 percent of
households require shelter repairs, and up to 10 percent of households are
headed by women or children without adult male members. It is expected that
there will be urgent needs for shelter, heating materials, and clothing during
the early onset of winter to avert people’s exposure to health risks and other
hazards (2023 ICCT Winter Prioritization). lt/spangtlt/pgt

ltpgtIn the Panjshir province,
the economic situation of people is getting worse due to climate change and other
emergencies that increase vulnerabilities.  A late 2022 Whole of Afghanistan Assessment
revealed that 60 percent of households experienced economic shocks, with 25 percent
resorting to emergency coping strategies, and the most vulnerable HHs are expected to continue adopting negative coping strategies in the upcoming months
(WAA 2022). People are restricted from collecting winter heating material from
the mountains, which has been a traditional practice for years due to security
reasons. Also, people cannot afford to rear livestock since the pastures are
not easy to access after the Taliban took over the Panjshir which means they
are not able to use the animal dung as heating for the winter. Most of the
population in these hard-to-reach districts will soon be facing severe winter
conditions with a need for heating material and winter clothing. This proposed
project will be implemented to improve the life conditions for many of the most
vulnerable individuals (e.g., pregnant women, children, and elderly people)
throughout the winter season.ltbrgt
The 2023 ICCT and WAA highlight significant needs over the winter due to
aggravated vulnerability. This will be critical for many people – particularly conflict-affected
populations who reside in undignified living conditions with little access to
basic services.ltbrgt
ltbrgt
The chosen modality for this assistance will be through direct cash transfers
to the neediest HHs, which will enable target beneficiaries to access
essential heating materials, clothing, and blankets in the harsh winter season.
Cash modality enables beneficiaries to feel empowered to make an informed
decision. Also, it empowers the local markets by increasing the demand and
supply which indirectly improves the economic situation of the indirect
beneficiaries including local vendors. Local and neighboring markets are
accessible for all target groups including female-headed households, people with disability, and
elderly men and women with a daily connection to the provincial market that can
supply the demand for commodities. Implementing a similar project in 2022-2023
enables NAC to use the lessons learned and improve the quality of the
intervention for future projects. This project aligns with NAC’s current
programs to add emergency assistance to our “emergency cash assistance” to
ensure that families and their children have access to heating materials to
cope with the harsh winter season. NAC will ensure a gender-sensitive selection
process and accessible accountability mechanisms, and the gender-balanced field
team will ensure easy access by both genders. An awareness-raising session on the Mitigation of body freezing due to cold will be held with 30-40 beneficiaries for at least 3 hours to sensitize beneficiaries to the negative impacts of the freezing of body parts. Also, community elders and Mullahs in each target community will be conducted to covey the key messages in the Masjids. ltspan style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif color: black"gtNAC proposes an unconditional unrestricted cash
for winterization (200 USD heating, 74 USD winter clothing) in one trench
through hawala prevailing exchange rate. lt/spangt



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