Meeting immediate humanitarian needs of conflict-affected IDP families in Badakhshan and Takhar provinces In recent years, conflict in north eastern Afghanistan has been on the rise causing increased displacement of people and families. Most IDPs coming to provincial centres are from remote districts, putting a burden on the local population and increasing competition for scarce local resources. Takhar and Badakhshan Provinces in North-eastern Afghanistan are two of the 17 provinces in PRIORITY 1 of the ES/NFI Cluster’s priority provinces with 72,268 households in need of winterization assistance. As per the Cluster's projections, 81,380 families will remain unassisted during this winter, of which 58,298 families are expected to be in Priority 1 provinces. Humanitarian agencies do not have adequate resources to cover these needs. A recent resource mapping by the Cluster revealed that 95,350 families were in need of winterization support. However Cluster partners are only able to cover 13,970 families leading to a gap of 81,380 families that will not be covered by current winterization support.The proposed project will mainly provide support in Badakhshan, for IDPs living in or around the three IDP camps of Dashti Shuhada (Kharlok) in Faizabad, Dashti Farak in Baharak and Buzkashi in Keshim, while in Takhar, IDPs living in Taloqan city will be targeted, which hosts IDPs coming from many nearby districts including Baharak, Chahab, Dasht-e-Qala, Eshkmesh, NamakAb, Taloqan(Qulbars) and Yangi Qala. A total of 2,800 IDP families in Badakhshan and 2,300 IDP families in Takhar are targeted for winterization support under this Action. 
On October 10-12 2019, Mission East’s Programme and MEAL teams were deployed to conduct targeted needs assessment for IDPs, along with security and market assessments. Simultaneously in order to develop this winterization response plan, (project) discussions were held with government line ministries, Department of Refugees and Repatriation (DoRR), ACTED, AKAH and Concern. The results of his rapid assessment show that 99% of IDPs need support for heating during the winter period. There are gas heaters and gas suppliers locally available and accessible by both Mission East and IDPs even during the winter period. So the project is focusing on saving lives during winter by providing gas heating systems (gas heater and cylinder – 5kg) and gas vouchers for 3 months (60 kg gas / month/ family). This will not only protect lives but also the environment, as it is estimated that over 6,000 trees will be saved from logging by providing gas heaters as an alternative heating system.
Also, this assessment shows that there is a great need for gender sensitization amongst IDPs and their host communities to tackle the deeply entrenched gender inequality in Afghanistan. The project will employ participatory methodologies ensuring women and girls' participation in decision making and to ensure that all family members are equally benefiting from the assistance, including the most vulnerable. 
This Action will contribute to Strategic Objective 1 of the Humanitarian Response Plan (Save lives in the areas of highest need. It will also contribute towards Strategic Objective 3: People struck by sudden onset crises get the help they need on time. Mission East’s long-term presence in Badakhshan and Takhar since 2001, high levels of access to hard to reach areas and good acceptance with local communities and stakeholders makes it one of the few well-placed humanitarian actors in the region with the capacity for timely response. 
Mission East Afghanistan utilizes a risk-based management model in programming, finance and security. It has built up a strong reputation for securing solid government department support and community engagement in its activities. Over the years, this approach has fostered very positive relations and a culture of trust and respect for the organization in its areas of operation, Takhar and Badakhshan provinces