Enhancing Humanitarian Response in Afghanistan through Procurement and Prepositioning of WASH Core Pipeline Supplies ltpgtltspan style="font-size: 14px"gtAfghanistan is facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis
with a very real risk of systemic collapse and human catastrophe. In addition
to unimaginable human costs, this humanitarian crisis is reversing many of the
gains of the last 20 years, including around women’s rights.lt/spangtltbrgtlt/pgt



ltp class="MsoNormal"gtIn 2023, a staggering 28.3 million people (two thirds of
Afghanistan’s population) will need urgent humanitarian assistance in order to
survive as the country enters its third consecutive year of drought-like
conditions and the second year of crippling economic decline, while still
reeling from the effects of 40 years of conflict and recurrent natural
disasters. High levels of unemployment and sustained inflation of key commodity
prices have caused the average household’s debt to increase, challenging people’s
coping mechanisms and thwarting the already fragile economy’s ability to adapt
to shocks. While in previous years, humanitarian needs have been largely driven
by conflict, the key drivers of humanitarian need in 2023 are multidimensional:
drought, climate change, protection threats, particularly for women and girls,
and the economic crisis. Nevertheless, conflict, natural disasters, the
lingering effects of war, and recent large-scale conflict displacement continue
to prevent people from building resilience and moving towards recovery and
solutions. The number of people in need (PiN) of humanitarian assistance in
2022 (28.3 million people) has increased from 24.4 million in 2022 (a 16 per
cent increase) and 18.4 million in 2021 (a 54 per cent increase). The main
reason for the increase in the PiN is due to the dramatic increase in WASH
needs (up 40 per cent) and protection needs (up 25 per cent) – reflecting the
compound impact of the drought and the increasingly restrictive measures
impacting women and girls – and includes all secondary school aged girls denied
access to education.lt/pgt





ltpgtlt/pgtltp class="sceditor-nlf"gtIn view of the above, the proposed project aims to enhance hygiene and sanitation conditions while mitigating the spread of waterborne diseases, including AWD outbreaks in Afghanistan. To achieve this, the project will procure and strategically pre-position essential hygiene pipeline supplies to facilitate rapid response and development efforts by the WASH cluster partners. The overall goal of this project is aligned with the Cluster Objective (CO1) which focuses on addressing the escalating WASH needs in Afghanistan. The expected outcome of this project is: ltigtWASH Cluster Partners have access to high-quality WASH supplies for distribution as integral part of their WASH projects, reaching populations residing in high-risk and remote areas. lt/igt Through this intervention, a total of 74,900 vulnerable individuals (50% females) will benefit through the hygiene kits procured and supplied to WASH Cluster Partners. The distribution of hygiene kits to WASH Cluster partners shall be done upon receipt of formal request from the partner, which must undergo approval by the WASH Cluster, following established procedures. While in the custody of DACAAR, stringiest warehousing best practices shall be applied to guarantee the safety and preservation of the stocks. Information on stock availability and procedures for receipts will be communicated regularly to the cluster and its partnersltigtlt/igtlt/pgt