Protecting Conflict-Affected Children and Families in Ghor Province Since the takeover of the Taliban, the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated rapidly in the past two months. Even at the onset of 2021, nearly 10 million children were in need of humanitarian assistance. Since May, the number of internally displaced more than doubled to over 570,000 people, nearly 60 percent of whom are children. Violence continues to disproportionately impact children and women, who represent 46 per cent of all civilian casualties recorded by June 2021. The rights of women and girls including freedom of movement and access to employment and education, are at risk, and protection from violence, persecution and reprisal remain a top priority. 

Humanitarian needs are expected to increase as new displacement patterns exacerbate existing vulnerabilities linked to the conflict, food insecurity, the effects of the drought and the COVID-19 pandemic. The dire situation has been compounded by the fast-approaching winter which may further isolate communities who are heavily dependent on humanitarian assistance to survive. Protection and other sectors will need to mobilize more resources to scale up responses to ensure children do not suffer from the consequences of the harsh conditions.

In respond to the urgent protection needs, World Vision Afghanistan (WVA) will focus on supporting individual children who face complex protection concerns and deliver comprehensive case management services through the trained Case Workers and Community Mobilizers in Firozkoh and Lal Wa Sarjangal districts in Ghor province. Case management enables support to be provided to at risk boys and girls in a systematic and coordinated manner. The activity will build on the existing practices of local protection partners with a view to improve technical quality and scale of activities in the given locations. 

Building on the existing structures, WVA will work with the community shura and other key actors to sensitize them on key protection concerns and mitigation measures in the current crisis. With increased awareness and knowledge, community members will be able to facilitate the identification and reporting of child protection cases within the community. Furthermore, the proposed project will conduct regular child protection monitoring with the different age and gender groups in order to assess and identify emerging CP risks and trends. Project staff will be trained to handle sensitive information in line with the confidentiality principle and the Global Protection Cluster’s guidelines on protection monitoring.

Information dissemination is another key component of the proposed project. Brochures and other IEC materials in simple or child friendly languages will be made available at the service points as well as distributed to the households during home visits. These will include information on services access, protection and psychosocial support messages and safeguarding mechanisms. This information dissemination will be done by all project staff including the Community Mobilizers aiming to reach as many people as possible in various occasions. Meanwhile, basic psychosocial support activities will be provided in small group or home-based settings to address the high-level of stress among children and caregivers.

WVA is well placed to implement this project, due to the several years of presence it has in Ghor province. The proposed action also builds on the results and lessons learned through the experience of the previous AHF project in the target districts. It addresses the major gaps identified by both the regional and local UNICEF Child Protection focal points. As the co-lead of the CP AoR in the Western Region, WVA will ensure close coordination with other protection actors as well as updating the key stakeholders on the project progress throughout the intervention.