nlp-thedeep/humsetbias huggingface dataset:
Wheat Flour  ( High Price ) : The average price increased by 0.3% compared to the fourth week of October, and was still 11% higher than 14 March. The increase occurred in: Khost  ( 9% ) , Nimroz and Zabul  ( 3% )  and Kandahar  ( 2% ) , mainly due to a temporary supply shortfall and daily price fluctuations.
The highest wheat prices were observed in Nuristan, Paktika, Wardak and Zabul  ( 37, 35, 35, 35 AFN per kg, respectively ) . While the lowest prices were in Farah, Sari Pul, Samangan and Faryab  ( 20, 25, 25 and 25 AFN per kg, respectively ) .
Since January 2020, 6,591 households  ( 46,137 individuals )  were affected by natural disasters across 33 provinces. The most affected provinces were Kunar, Farah, Samangan, Nangarhar, Laghman, Faryab and Hirat. Partners have reached more than 6,000 disaster affected households with emergency shelter and NFI support.
In response to increased needs, the ES NFI Cluster scaled up both its volume of assistance, as well as the number of people they planned to reach as part of the June Humanitarian Response Plan revision. To maintain flexibility in the response, the Cluster increased the proportion of its response delivered in cash – now 35 per cent.
Due to the current situation, many children also may not be able to start their treatment leading to further deterioration of nutritional status. In most cases, this may mean that children may require costlier specialised treatment later and increased likelihood of mortality and lifelong impairments.
On average, there are over 15 people per dwelling, with the majority of households  ( 92 per cent )  residing in single roomed mud brick dwellings. There is also a highly vulnerable five per cent residing in tents, accounting for a total of 30 families and over 150 people.
Since January, 223 157 Afghans have returned, many fleeing the COVID 19 outbreak and settling in crowded urban settlements, presenting severe transmission risks.
Similarly, together with the ES NFI Cluster, the ( Education in Emergencies Working Group )  EiEWG is pre positioning winterisation kits for school children ahead of the harsh winter period. This entails provision of winter coats, shoes and warm socks in schools and distribution of heating materials  ( including heating stoves and fuel )  in CBE  ( competency based education ) classes.
At the mid year point,  ( Education in Emergencies Working Group )  EiEWG partners had started preparing for the reopening of schools, mobilising response and resource capacity to put a minimum package of WASH in schools. This includes hand washing facilities, soap and training of teachers on safe water use to enable basic sanitation in schools. The planning and selection of schools was done in collaboration with the WASH Cluster.
Humanitarian actions completed so far in 2020 include: Establishment of an UNHAS airbridge from Kabul to Doha
During the same period  [ in line with commitments made in 2020 HRP ] , ES NFI partners reached 11,335 individuals with transitional shelter support although there is room for further scale up that would ultimately reduce suffering and the need for support in the winter months. Transitional shelter solutions  ( offering sustainable housing for two to five years as opposed to the six month lifespan of a tent )  contribute to the safety, security and well being of people, but will also promote recovery among those in a protracted state of vulnerability.
People are using alternative routes through NSAG  [ Non State Armed Groups ]  controlled areas for movement.
Men account for 68% of the total COVID 19 confirmed cases in the MoPH data, although this may be the result of over representation of men in testing.
Donors must provide funding to address immediate food security needs of children and their families.
Ongoing conflict and direct targeting by armed groups is compounding challenges to improve poor nationwide phone and internet connectivity. For example, in the third quarter of the year the Humanitarian Access Group  ( HAG )  recorded five incidents of armed groups destroying network towers, often after the companies refused to pay taxation or to adhere to requests to go offline during the night, including in Maywand where an armed group destroyed two AWCC cell towers after they ignored a request to go offline from 7pm to 7am.These interruptions to phone services also impact on the ability of humanitarians to operate and conduct needs assessments in affected areas.
In line with commitments made in the 2020 HRP to extend activities that support people to recover and build their resilience, Food Security and Agriculture Cluster  ( FSAC )  partners were able to mobilise communal asset creation assistance to 122,269 people at an estimated cost of $4.1 million. This included building of small dams to retain rain water for subsequent irrigation of cash and staple crops. It also included building of irrigation canals that allow communities to retain and manage water flows, mitigate soil erosion, reduce waste of water, and increase the access to water for communities living away from water sources.
Donors must prioritise funding of sustainable livelihood opportunities in order to support vulnerable families to reduce negative coping mechanisms such as child marriage and child labor
According to WFP's market monitoring, the average wheat flour price  ( low price and high price )  increased by 12% between 14 March and 13 January, while the cost of pulses, sugar, cooking oil and rice  ( low quality )  increased by 23%, 21%, 47%, and 18%, respectively, over the same period. This price increase is accompanied by a declining purchasing power of casual labourers and pastoralists – which have deteriorated by almost 19% and 18% respectively  ( compared to 14 March ) .
Children represented nearly one third of all civilian casualties, more than 80 per cent of civilian casualties from explosive remnants of war and more than 40 per cent of civilian casualties from airstrikes. At the same time, the recruitment and use of children continues to plague Afghanistan, with minors increasingly vulnerable due to the closure of schools because of the pandemic.
In the first half of 2020, UNAMA  ( United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan )  documented 3,458 civilian casualties  ( 1,282 killed and 2,176 injured )  in Afghanistan. From 1 January to 30 June 2020, UNAMA ( United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan )  documented 1,067 child casualties  ( 340 killed and 727 injured )  and 397 women casualties  ( 138 killed and 259 injured ) .
[ Context of COVID 19 ]  According to market monitoring, prices of key commodities have risen significantly while the purchasing power of labourers has deteriorated.
While the lack of civil documentation has ramifications of all population groups, it is particularly challenging for IDPs and returnees who are unable to access the limited government services that do exist without being able to prove their identities. For example, women require both a Tazkera and a marriage certificate to secure Housing Land and Property  ( HLP )  rights; women are at particular risk of inheritance problems when they lack proper documentation.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan  ( UNAMA )  documented 5,939 civilian casualties  ( 2,117 people killed and 3,822 injured )  in the first nine months of 2020. While this represents a 30 per cent reduction in civilian casualties compared to the same period in 2019 and the lowest number of civilian casualties over the first nine months of the year since 2012, the number of those killed by NSAGs remained similar to last year.
The emergency response to the COVID 19 pandemic also means that resources for sexual and reproductive health services may be diverted to deal with the outbreak, contributing to a rise in maternal and new born mortality, increased unmet need for contraception, and an increased number of unsafe abortions and sexually transmitted infections.
Despite the fact that healthcare in Afghanistan is nominally free, paying for healthcare is increasingly common and constitutes a high proportion of household spending. Some 82 per cent of assessed households report paying for healthcare, with particularly high rates among refugees  ( 92 per cent ) .
In the first 11 months of 2020, some 346,202 people have been treated for physical traumatic injuries caused by a variety of dangers including combat and landmines. Many will be left with life long disabilities, requiring post operative care, rehabilitation and prosthetics.
Between 2007 and 2017, life expectancy at birth progressively increased, from 52 years in women and 53 years in men to about 63 years for both sexes.
In 2020 there has been a 12 per cent yearly increase in households adopting high food based coping strategies to meet their basic food needs. These include mainly relying on less preferred and inexpensive food  ( often with a nutritional deficit ) ; borrowing food or relying on support from kinship groups; and limiting the portion size of meals. More than a quarter of households have used these food based coping strategies in Uruzgan, Ghor, Badghis, Hilmand and Laghman provinces.
Shockingly, 5.5 million people are now in emergency levels of food insecurity– the second highest number of people in the world – and are at immediate risk of sliding into a catastrophic situation without support. These recent projections show a sharp increase from the June 2020 figures which were already at elevated levels with 33 per cent of the population in IPC 3 and 4 food insecurity.
Drawing from past years' trends and the most likely scenario analysis, some 500,000 people are expected to be displaced in 2021, 365,000 of whom are likely to require emergency shelter and NFI support.
Across the country, a significant proportion of the population is living with one or more shelter deficits and at least 15 per cent of affected households report either severe or critical ES NFI sectoral needs while exhibiting one or more vulnerabilities.These vulnerabilities include being a child , elderly  or single female headed household, disability, high debt, changes in behaviour  ( mental health )  and lack of documentation.
Notable provinces for girls being made to work include Maidan Wardak  ( 13 per cent ) , Kunduz  ( 10 per cent ) , Hilmand  ( 9 per cent ) , and Sar e Pul  ( 8 per cent ) .  ( Child labour )
The COVID 19 pandemic has also decreased people's purchasing power with displaced households in informal settlements more likely to report living in inadequate shelter, lacking basic household items, experiencing a protection incident and a recent decrease in monthly income.
DTM data shows that 5 million people have been displaced since 2012 and have not returned home. Many remain in urban and rural informal settlements, with sub standard shelters, without access to safe water and sanitation facilities, and unable to support their own recovery.
For 2021, the group has used those living in IPC2+ as a proxy for wider chronic needs and vulnerabilities in the community, helping to capture the transient and multi dimensional nature of poverty and vulnerability. Based on this analysis, it has been determined that the number of people in need of social assistance would include the 34 per cent of the population in stress  ( IPC 2 ) , the 28 per cent in crisis  ( IPC 3 )  and the 14 per cent in emergency  ( IPC 4 ) . In other words, 76 per cent of the population, or an estimated 30.5 million people  ( 14.9 million female and 15.6 million male ) , are currently in need of social assistance. This is in spite of the relatively decent harvest, as increasing food prices and the loss of livelihoods make affordability a concern for poor households, particularly in urban areas.
While efforts were made to provide distance education options – through TV and radio – during the school closure period in 2020, many children, especially those living in remote and hard to reach areas, had limited access to TV and radio or a regular supply of electricity.
Asia Foundation perception survey findings indicate that even with the lifting of the Government's COVID 19 restrictions, 61 per cent of respondents remained concerned about visiting a healthcare facility, 59 per cent with attending funerals and religious functions, 59 per cent with attending school, 58 per cent with travelling outside of the local area to visit family, 57 per cent with engaging in community activities, and 55 per cent with going to work.
Already fragile and under developed systems across Afghanistan have been further disrupted due to the ongoing conflict, recurrent natural disasters and the pandemic, directly impacting people's access to quality healthcare, education, housing, markets and WASH systems. Effects on these systems likely create sectoral needs, but also may create needs across sectors, reducing people's dignity, compounding vulnerability and creating self reinforcing cycles of suffering.
UN Women Gender Alerts and the UN Women/ IRC KAP survey further highlight that the needs of IDP and cross border returnee women are particularly high, with reports of denial of access to life saving services and discrimination affecting those already living in vulnerable situations, such as older women, and women and girls living with disabilities.
A separate Oxfam and War Child assessment shows a 35 per cent increase in GBV during the pandemic, including a 91 per cent rise in verbal abuse and a 55 per cent increase in physical abuse.
Afghanistan consistently ranks as one of the most dangerous places to be a woman, with deeply entrenched patriarchal norms and 87 per cent of women likely to experience GBV in their lifetime.
The outbreak of COVID 19 has amplified pre existing gender inequalities driven by harmful gender norms and stereotypes. It has particularly impacted women who have suffered a decrease in income generating opportunities, which has put at risk their access to essential services such as healthcare, food, water, and protection.
The Protection Cluster further highlights that COVID 19 has added to the uncertainty, increased vulnerability and extreme distress of children and their families. This includes returnee and deportee children who face discrimination in Afghanistan after returning from abroad and children who have lost their care givers due to COVID 19 who then face the additional hardship of rejection or stigmatisation. In turn, stigma and discrimination related to COVID 19 may make children more vulnerable to violence and psychosocial distress.
While most vulnerable households assessed in the 2020 WoA indicated they do have access to a health facility, many report having to walk over an hour to reach the nearest facility.
Long distances are particularly noted by non recent returnee households and recent IDPs and present an exceptional barrier to elderly headed households and women given the cost of transport, the dangers of moving around in conflict zones and social barriers to female travel.
Analysis from MOPH's nutrition database showed a 33 per cent decrease in admissions for treatment of SAM within health centres – ‘inpatient' treatment – and a three per cent decrease in ‘outpatient' treatment in November 2020. Efforts were made to cover this gap through the use of mobile teams but these are expensive and unable to cover the same volume of patients, with flow on effects for 2021 needs.
While the impact of COVID 19 on health seeking behaviours has been noted above, COVID 19 has also impacted the ability of providers to offer services in a socially distanced and safe manner. For example, the country's biggest disability therapy and prosthetics service run by the International Committee of the Red Cross  ( ICRC )  in Kabul, with satellite hospitals in other parts of the country, was forced to scale down its services during COVID. In a normal year, the service treats approximately 3,300 patients, providing them with physical therapy, life changing prosthetics and opportunities to engage in sport. In 2020, the service scaled down due to social distancing requirements and reached only 1,810 clients.
Additionally, a staggering 15.3 per cent of infants under six months are affected by wasting, 6.2 per cent of whom are severely wasted.This sharp decline in nutritional status partly stems from the surge in acute food insecurity over recent years, forced displacement, low access to health services  ( physical accessibility and distance to nutrition services ) , poor access to water and sanitation, combined with poor maternal nutrition, high levels of stunting, low immunisation coverage and a high overall disease burden. Poor feeding practices of infants and young children are also contributing factors.
As poverty or financial stress were cited as the most frequent cause of behaviour change   particularly for vulnerable, non displaced households at 71 per cent   this creates potential for a vicious cycle in which feelings of distress and inability to find work become mutually reinforcing. This risk was particularly high among households headed by people with a disability.
The 73 per cent of the population who live in rural areas are the most affected by the lack of access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services, where open defecation is still widespread and hand washing with soap at critical times is infrequently practiced.
The increased use of indiscriminate victim activated PPIEDs indicates blatant disregard for civilian life in the conduct of hostilities and consistent willingness by NSAGs to breach international norms. Beyond their immediate impact, these tactics sow fear amongst families and limit their willingness to move freely to access assistance, tend to routine medical needs, or enrol children in schools.
According to analysis by the HAG, in the first three quarters of 2020, humanitarians faced 722 access constraints. This represents a frightening 62 per cent increase compared to the number of incidents  ( 444 )  reported for all of 2019.These access incidents include interference in the implementation of humanitarian activities, levy requests, military operations and kinetic activity, movement restrictions, physical environmental factors and lack of infrastructure, violence/threats against humanitarian personnel/assets/facilities, and landmines. The most frequently recorded constraint remains active interference by the Taliban, armed criminal groups and government authorities, in that order.These interferences slow down the delivery of aid and sometimes prevent needs being met.
Women, in particular, report inability to reach health centres due to transport and movement challenges.
Despite critical health needs, 30 per cent of displaced households report feeling unsafe travelling to or being at health facilities due to insecurity, 15 per cent report being afraid to seek treatment for COVID like symptoms due to stigma, and 44 per cent report being unable to access health care due to distance and the lack of transportation options available.
In addition to consumers facing challenges, merchants also note problems with stocking items due to conflict, COVID 19, and poor infrastructure. Of the 48 per cent of traders who reported facing difficulties in road based transportation of goods, 42 per cent cited conflict, 31 per cent cited roadblocks and 12 per cent reported seasonal challenges.
Recent market monitoring by the Joint Market Monitoring Initiative  ( JMMI )  also reveals households continue to face challenges in accessing functional markets. Among the 61 per cent of key informants who reported that they face at least one barrier to accessing markets as a consumer, the most frequently cited reasons included insecurity  ( 24 per cent ) , financial barriers  ( 23 per cent )  and fear of exposure to COVID 19 and public health restrictions  ( 18 per cent ) .
According to the IPC Secretariat, Afghanistan has the second highest number of people in IPC 4  ( emergency )  in the world – 5.5 million people. COVID 19 has resulted in increasing food insecurity among urban residents where the impacts of the pandemic on employment and health have been most severe.
Further, the emphasis on COVID 19 in terms of resource allocation has also resulted in fewer resources available to treat non urgent, non COVID health needs. Coupled with people's fear of attending health centres due to concerns about catching COVID  19, it is anticipated that this necessary over weighting towards COVID 19 will result in more severe health needs manifesting in 2021.
Despite the delivery of millions of pieces of Personal Protective Equipment  ( PPE )  by the international community, stocks of supplies have periodically run out; the shortfall in PPE for healthcare workers has led to a disproportionate number of COVID 19 infections among this workforce, incapacitating the same critical staff relied upon to care for the ill.
Health teams at border crossings have also been under immense pressure due to the high numbers of people returning from Iran and requiring health screening.  [ COVID 19 ]
Displacement Tracking Matrix  ( DTM )  data shows almost 4.8 million people have been displaced since 2012 and have not returned to their homes. Many are renting or squatting in insecure housing, including in informal settlements on private land on the fringes of major cities. Their insecure land tenure limits investment in shelter and infrastructure, exposing residents to long periods of deprivation and accumulating vulnerabilities.
HelpAge further notes that mental health for the elderly population in Afghanistan was heavily impacted by COVID 19, including due to the public messaging around heightened vulnerabilities and risks for elderly populations leading some to lose confidence in the efficacy of measures to keep them safe.
For the fifth year in a row, Afghanistan is listed as the deadliest conflict for children in the 2020 Report of the Secretary General on Children in Armed Conflict. In 2020, more than four in every 10 civilian casualties were women or children. Child casualties represented a third  ( 31 per cent )  of all civilian casualties in the first nine months of 2020, and women casualties made up 13 per cent.
COVID 19 related access constraints: In late March, the Government announced a number of lockdown measures in all major cities aimed at preventing the spread of the virus.
JMMI October 2020 data shows that, at the national level, an average of 61 per cent of key informants reported that consumers had at least one barrier to accessing markets. This number is pushed up to 88 per cent in the east. The main reasons given for these market barriers include insecurity while travelling to the market  ( 24 per cent ) , financial barriers  ( 23 per cent ) , and fear of exposure to COVID 19 and public health restrictions  ( 18 per cent ) .
With its placement in a seismically active region, Afghanistan remains highly susceptible to catastrophic damage due to earthquakes – particularly across a number of densely populated urban areas along the Chaman, Hari Rud, Central Badakhshan, and Darvaz faults. Each of these faults is capable of producing 7 or 8 Magnitude earthquakes.
[ Afghanistan has an Inform Risk Index of 8.1, the second highest country out of the 191 profiled ] . At the same time, the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index ranks it as the 11th least prepared country against climatic shocks and the 10th most vulnerable country in the world to climate change.
While conflict and insecurity remain the primary drivers of displacement, natural disasters and environmental risks remain recurrent disruptors, frequently contributing to heightened vulnerability and need. Afghanistan has an Inform Risk Index of 8.1, the second highest country out of the 191 profiled.
The 2020 WoA analysis indicates sources of income spanned both sustainable and unsustainable categories of work   day labour without a contract was the most frequently reported source of income for displaced households  ( 74 per cent ) , followed by agriculture  ( 22 per cent ) , borrowing money  ( 16 per cent ) , small businesses  ( 12 per cent ) , and livestock  ( 10 per cent ) .Employment profiles were similar for vulnerable non displaced households as well.
Reflective of this, 43 per cent of Afghans surveyed as part of the Asia Foundation's perceptions poll reported that access to electricity for their household had become worse in the past 12 months, while only 17 per cent report that it has improved. Respondents in the Central/Highlands region  ( 52 per cent )  are most likely to report that access to electricity had worsened while those in the North West  ( 38 per cent )  are least likely.
Even where cellular networks exist, only 41 per cent of displaced households report owning a sim card. Access to mobile phone services remains uneven with 62 per cent of women headed households reporting that they do not own a sim card.
People's vulnerability due to the pandemic has become heightened due to poor infrastructure, particularly in the almost 1,150 informal settlements which feature crowded living conditions, low availability of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene  ( WASH )  infrastructure, and limited access to health, social and economic services.
The 2020 SFSA found the majority  ( 73 per cent )  of the population living in rural areas still lacks access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene services. In some of these rural areas, open defecation is as much as seven times more common than in urban areas. Meanwhile, 45 per cent of people in rural areas are without access to improved family latrines and collecting water takes three times longer.
In 2021, some 289,000 IDPs, 615,000 returnees, 180,000 disaster affected people, 194,000 COVID 19 patients, 39,000 refugees, and 7.5 million acutely vulnerable people will require WASH assistance.
In addition to water points being too far, 19 per cent of key informants in hard to reach areas indicated that there are insufficient water points or that waiting times are too long.
In 2021, seven provinces are classified as being in ‘catastrophic' WASH need for displaced populations   Sar e Pul, Baghlan, Ghor, Badghis, Samangan, Faryab and Nuristan. Many of these provinces are facing groundwater challenges, including salinity, which are best addressed through development interventions.
Climate change is expected to influence the severity and frequency of disasters in Afghanistan, which may lead to more displacement and IDPs requiring access to safe land in the long term.
In addition to negative cultural beliefs, other barriers to girls' education include verbal and physical harassment, limited availability of safe facilities and female teachers in schools, and a heavy burden of household work.
In a needs assessment carried out by Oxfam in April 2020, 97 per cent of female respondents said that GBV had increased since the COVID 19 outbreak started.
From July 2019 to June 2020, the UN verified 1,497 such violations against children, highlighting persistent trends of violence. This included 1,164 verified incidents of killing and maiming, 155 attacks on schools in 16 provinces, and 326 verified incidents of child recruitment into armed forces and groups across 31 provinces of Afghanistan.
Women are likely to eat last, leaving less nutritious scraps for them and further reducing their food intake. This increases the risk of malnutrition for them and their babies, if pregnant.
Analysis from MOPH's nutrition database showed a 33 per cent decrease in admissions for treatment of SAM within health centres – ‘inpatient' treatment – and a three per cent decrease in ‘outpatient' treatment in November 2020. At the height of the first wave of the pandemic in May 2020, the numbers went as high as a 46 per cent and a 12 per cent decrease in ‘inpatient' and ‘outpatient' treatments, respectively. As a result, an estimated 14,840 SAM children under five missed treatment during the pandemic.
Ongoing conflict and insecurity make it difficult to access hard to reach areas, and large  scale population movements along the porous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan further complicate vaccination efforts, making children on both sides vulnerable to contracting the debilitating disease.
At the time of publication, the Government of Afghanistan is in the process of revising the country's existing NGO law with grave implications for operational independence. The current draft law outlines new powers for the Government to determine NGOs' organisational structure, hiring practices, policies, financial decisions and assets, threatening humanitarian principles.
Unequal access to land is also a major contributor to gender inequality in Afghanistan. Current estimates indicate that less than five per cent of land tenure/ownership documents include the name of a female family member. Women's relationship to land in Afghanistan is typically secondary – through her relationship with a male owner. Consequently, this lack of land right constitutes a major cause of gender based asset inequality, particularly given that land is often a household's most valuable asset.
Documented, legal housing arrangements were a challenge for 51 per cent of displaced households surveyed as part of the WoA. This is a particularly serious challenge for those living in informal settlements where people lack land tenure, reducing their access to essential services and placing them at constant threat of eviction.
Data shows that 41 per cent of displaced households reported no women in the household had a Tazkera. This indicates that there is a need to improve levels of ownership, particularly for women who may be made more vulnerable, both in public life and within the household, by the absence of civil documentation.
Protection Cluster and its four sub clusters/AORs – Child Protection; Gender Based Violence  ( GBV ) ; Mine Action  ( MA ) ; and Housing Land and Property  ( HLP )  – reached nearly 1.2 million people with different kinds of Protection assistance, often overlapping with the same beneficiary receiving multiple kinds of assistance from different work streams. This includes 374,938 people reached by Child Protection partners; 126,020 by GBV partners; 117,467 people by HLP partners; 492,480 people by Mine Action partners; and some 271,983 people with general protection type assistance.
Achievements: Since the start of the year, Nutrition partners reached 113,819 children through out patient treatment of SAM and an additional 6,830 children through in patient support. Partners further reached 302,482 children with MAM treatment and 137,147 pregnant and lactating women  ( PLW )  through therapeutic supplementary feeding  ( TSF ) . Some 100,619 children and 38,249 PLW were provided with BSF. Some 127,042 people received MiYCN and some 35,320.
While more than 232,000 people were reached with trauma assistance by health cluster in the first half of the year, the limited access to continuum of care  ( including rehabilitation and psychosocial support )  continues to be an added burden for a country already facing a pervasive mental health crisis and widespread physical disability.
At the onset of the crisis, FSAC  ( Food Security and Agriculture Cluster )  scaled up its food and cash based assistance to support 3 million people affected by COVID 19  ( in urban and rural areas )  with four months of assistance  ( in two rounds )  to help cover their food needs through the peak of the pandemic which is severely affecting food and livelihoods.
As of June 2020, the Government banned Small Group Learning programmes. This has affected children who do not have access to home based and self learning materials  ( radio, internet ) , especially those in hard to reach and remote areas.
Achievements: In the first half of 2020, the EiEWG ( Education in Emergencies Working Group )  supported the Government's efforts to mitigate the immediate impact of school closures by facilitating the continuity of education through remote learning arrangements. Two taskforces – the Alternative Learning Pathways Taskforce and Teacher Engagement Taskforce – were developed under the EiEWG. The Alternative Learning Pathways Taskforce developed and distributed self learning materials  ( in national languages )  for students in grades 1 to 6 to enable them to study at home. Education partners also supported children through a Small Group Learning approach, in line with MoPH guidance of physical distancing. This meant that five to eight children could come together at a time and learn. This approach was initially applied in areas where distance learning through TV, radio and self learning modalities were not feasible.
In the first half of 2020, Mine Action partners delivered EORE (  Explosive Ordnance Risk Education )  to 270,841 returnees and IDPs in Nimroz, Hirat, Nangarhar, Kandahar and Kabul provinces. Because EORE activities are being implemented with an alternative delivery methodology, it is expected that fewer people will be reached in 2020 by these risk education messages.
Continued conflict and targeting of schools over burdens the already stretched education system. About one third of school aged children in the country  ( 3.7 million children )  are out of school. These children are out of school as a result of multiple underlying factors such as poverty, damaged schools and inadequate supply of classrooms, a shortage of teachers  ( especially female teachers ) , insufficient relevant learning and teaching resources, lack of inclusive facilities at schools especially for children with disability, cultural norms which de prioritise education for girls, and the long distances required to reach school for many children.
In June 2019, Drought Response 2018/19 drought response winds down after reaching 5.2 million people with assistance.
In March 2019, Displacement in the East More than 25,000 civilians displaced due to intra NSAG clashes in Chapa Dara district in Kunar province.
Vulnerability:79 per cent of adults and 17 per cent of children are estimated to live with some form of physical and mental disability; 8.9 per cent of the population live with a severe disability. This group is especially vulnerable in the COVID 19 context with lockdown measures and movement constraints further limiting people's mobility, transport options, and access to support services. Constant exposure to high stress, conflict situations, movement restrictions and financial pressure, as well as repeated loss of friends and family members from sickness and war, continue to take their toll on the mental health of people living in Afghanistan.
Without immediate receipt of more funds, a rupture in the pipeline of key WASH supplies is expected. Existing stocks of water kits and chlorine drums will run out in mid July while hygiene kits will run out by end August, if new funding is not committed. Funding shortfalls may further affect regular WASH activities particularly provision of sanitation facilities and sustainable water infrastructure.
To allow a rapid mobilisation of response to the COVID 19 crisis, the WASH Cluster customised hygiene kits for COVID 19 response with locally sourced items. This helped reduce international procurement lead times  ( susceptible to border restrictions and subsequent delays in delivery ) .
The Cluster and its Sub Clusters have also scaled up in volume and type of protection response provided in an effort to address the impact of the pandemic. Cash for Protection assistance, aimed at reducing the negative impact of COVID 19 on very vulnerable households and families under financial pressure, was a new activity added by Protection partners.
Group based psychosocial support activities in Child Friendly Spaces  ( CFSs ) ; awareness raising events; face to face capacity building initiatives; and community level activities in Women Friendly Health Facilities  ( WFHFs )  including sexual and reproductive health rights  ( SRHR )  information sessions were suspended. GBV services in some Family Protection Centres  ( FPCs )  were temporarily paused. GBV community dialogues and community based risk reduction activities were also reduced in quantity and the number of participants per session, in line with COVID 19 regulations. All Mine Action activities – EORE; mine clearance; Explosive Ordnance Disposal  ( EOD )  surveys; and Victim Data Collection services through Quick Response Teams – were temporarily suspended  ( for a period of six to eight weeks )  before resuming with strict adherence to COVID 19 mitigation measures.
Partners have not been able to conduct on site/in person capacity building for community health workers and frontline health and nutrition staff. Nutrition coordination mechanisms have been affected at the sub national level, particularly in areas with weak telecommunication infrastructure and limited access to connectivity by partners. However, web based national level coordination meetings are still taking place in a regular manner. It has proven difficult to fully compensate for the low turnout of patients at health facilities with mobile teams, reducing the Cluster's overall reach. Physical distancing and spacing of beds in treatment facilities are still a challenge due to space constraints.
The Nutrition Cluster has also continued the provision of services at the community level through a scale up of mobile health teams and increase in the number of nutrition service sites.
In line with revised COVID 19 specific guidance to limit interactions, Nutrition partners have had to reduce the frequency of SAM follow up visits from weekly to bi weekly and reduce the MAM follow up visits from bi weekly to monthly. As it is no longer possible to conduct routine physical measurement of children  ( weight and height ) , Nutrition partners have started using the family MUAC approach – where partners engage family members to keep track of their children's nutritional status using MUAC tapes, although the tapes themselves have been in short supply.
The Nutrition Cluster adapted global guidelines to ensure that nutrition services are in line with treatment protocols and standards, yet at the same time minimise physical contacts to mitigate the spread of COVID 19.
The Health Cluster, together with MoPH, developed and distributed 2.6 million brochures, 225,000 posters and 35 billboards.  [ COVID 19 response ]
[ Health cluster together with MoPH ]  Provision of primary healthcare also continued, including through mobile teams  ( inclusive of routine vaccinations ) . Some 977,500 received primary healthcare by the mid year mark. Some 50,000 women further received reproductive and antenatal care through mobile health teams.
Displaced households headed by a person with a disability were found to suffer from higher levels of debt, reported having felt distressed at higher levels than other households, and indicated that this distress directly impacts their ability to work.
People with severe disabilities are especially vulnerable in the COVID 19 context with lockdown measures and movement constraints further limiting their reduced mobility, transport options, as well as access to support services and income generating opportunities.
Though there is no available nationwide data, experience suggests that people with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities are often excluded or under represented during any humanitarian response. Physical, communication and attitudinal barriers prevent them from accessing humanitarian programmes.
According to the 2020 WoA analysis, self reported disability prevalence among displaced households is higher than national averages; between 8 and 17 per cent of assessed households reported having a member with a disability. This was based on use of the Washington Group short set of questions that are aimed at understanding disability dimensions and impacts within the household.
The temporary suspension of the polio vaccination campaign between February and August 2020 resulted in 9.9 million children missing out on vaccination; already 53 new cases of polio have been verified in Afghanistan in 2020. This compounded the effect of existing bans on house to  house vaccinations in Taliban controlled areas, which have led to increased cases in these parts of the country.
The need to ensure social distancing also affected critical non COVID programming. For example, COVID 19 has exacerbated GBV in the country. With 32 per cent of women who are victims of GBV having significant physical injury, inability to access health care for GBV related needs may have detrimental consequences on their survival.
WHO notes that when health systems like Afghanistan's are overwhelmed, deaths, both as a direct result of the outbreak and resulting from other preventable and treatable conditions, increase dramatically.
The economic crisis, exacerbated by COVID 19 has led families toward negative coping mechanisms such as forced and child marriages or selling children.
A Joint Assessment Team consisting of ANDMA  [ Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority ] , DoRR  [ Directorate of Refugees and Repatriation ] , DAIL  [ Directorates of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock ] , Directorate of Economy, DRC  [ Danish Refugee Council ] , IOM  [ International Organization for Migration ] , UNICEF and WFP continued assessment on 29 August. This verified 71 households in need of humanitarian assistance. 52 homes were completely destroyed and 19 were severely damaged.
Access constraints  ( relating to the harsh winter period and ongoing insecurity )  also led to delayed distribution of planned food and livelihood assistance in some parts of the country during the first half of the year.
To expand prevention and mitigation activities in the fight against COVID 19, the WASH Cluster demonstrated flexibility by re orienting its activities to support handwashing promotion at the community  ( including informal settlements )  and institutional  ( health facilities and nutritional centers )  levels. This slowed down the regular WASH programmes  ( non COVID )  particularly in sanitation  ( 8 per cent of the planned reach at mid 2020 as compared to 42 per cent during the same period last year ) .
Achievements: FSAC  ( Food Security and Agriculture Cluster )  partners provided assistance to people affected by COVID 19, floods, conflict, as well as refugees and cross border returnees.
More than 2,076 public, community level, handwashing stations were set up by WASH Cluster across 11 provinces and 178 handwashing stations were established in health facilities across 6 provinces. More than 29,500 people at the Islam Qala border crossing, 41,707 people at the Milak crossing and 15,125 people at the Torkham border crossing also benefitted from WASH facility maintenance and the provision of water. Some 88,081 people were also supported to access a functioning sanitation facility.
To ensure animal, fruit and vegetable markets maintained operations, while observing measures to mitigate the spread of the virus, FSAC  ( Food Security and Agriculture Cluster ) partners ran COVID 19 awareness and disinfecting activities for 60,000 shopkeepers under the livelihoods activities outlined in the revised Humanitarian Response Plan.
Conflict continued to inflict suffering on civilians and destruction of critical public infrastructure – health and education facilities as well as water, electricity and telecommunication systems.
More than 578,270 people were provided with clean water and 88,100 with latrines by humanitarians, while shelter partners reached close to 297,500 people with targeted support aimed at protecting them from the country's harsh weather conditions.
Lives are saved in the areas of highest need :Under this objective, humanitarian partners delivered life saving responses to all kinds of shock  ( conflict, disaster and COVID 19 ) .
Attacks on health workers and facilities: Despite the heightened pressure on the healthcare system, health facilities and workers continued to suffer harm from attacks throughout the first half of the year, as well as acts of intimidation by parties to the conflict. In the first six months of 2020, UNAMA documented 27 direct attacks and 9 indirect attacks by parties to the conflict on healthcare workers or facilities.
In response to rising need, FSAC ( Food Security and Agriculture Cluster )  partners have provided emergency food response to over 3.2 million people and livelihood protection assistance to over 1 million people.
IOM's Displacement Tracking Matrix  ( DTM )  field teams have reached thousands of community leaders and influencers among host, IDP and returnee populations, including humanitarian and development partners and providers of essential services, with RCCE messaging in more than 6,000 villages across 25 provinces. IOM's priority focus is on mobile and displaced people in affected areas.
To begin to meet some of this need and to support the Government's plan, ‘Responding to the Corona Virus', the World Bank began developing a package of immediate relief measures with the Government and preparing for recovery so that Afghanistan can reignite its economy, generate much  needed, short term employment, and build its resilience to shocks in the longer term. By the end of June, the World Bank had authorised the reprogramming of existing funds and activities with the Government to deliver food  ( or cash )  support to communities, leveraging projects such as Citizens'.
2019 2020 Winterisation summary: During the first quarter of 2020 humanitarians delivered critical winter support to vulnerable people residing in the coldest parts of the country. Under a joint winterisation plan developed with the Government of Afghanistan and with support from 23 partners, humanitarians were able to reach 76,589 households  ( 80 per cent of the target )  with winter assistance.
Services provided through the mobile health and nutrition teams included antenatal care, postnatal care, family planning, new born care, integrated management of childhood illnesses, immunization services, nutrition services and health educations sessions. Over one million of the population were covered including around 40,000 pregnant women and 200,000 children under five.
As of February 23, 2021, the Afghanistan government officially began its COVID 19 vaccination campaign. The government received 500,000 doses  ( for 250,000 individuals )  of the AstraZeneca vaccine from India. Priority is being given to security forces, health workers, and journalists in Afghanistan.
The bulk of covid 19 cases were reported in Kabul  ( 17,251 cases ) , Hirat  ( 9,152 cases ) , Balkh  ( 3,371 cases ) , Nangarhar  ( 2,542 cases ) , and Kandahar  ( 2,481 cases )  provinces as of February 17, 2021. A high share of these were reported in urban areas. The total in these provinces makes almost 65 % of the total confirmed cases in Afghanistan.
According to the Ministry of Public Health  ( MOPH ) , a total 55,518 confirmed cases of COVID 19 and 2,428 associated deaths were reported in Afghanistan as of February 16, 2021.
more recently, most displacements in 2021 have occurred in the southern provinces. Of those displaced throughout 2020, 86% were assisted with food and agricultural packages according to OCHA.
the numbers of incidents and conflict related fatalities in 2020 were highest in the southern region, mainly Kandahar and Helmand provinces. As of February 17, these two provinces were also among the worst affected in 2021.
A significant number of returnees have also come back to Afghanistan since the outbreak started. According to the International Organization of Migration  ( IOM ) , over 597,000 Afghans have deported or returned voluntarily to home both due to the impacts of COVID 19 as well as the deteriorating status of economy of Iran. In an October 2020 Situation report1, IOM noted that due to coronavirus transmission fears in Iran, spontaneous returns continue, with a total of 25,917 undocumented Afghans returned from Iran through the Milak  ( Nimroz )  and Herat  ( Islam Qala )  borders between 27 Sep – 03 Oct 2020.
According to Save the Children3, 53 percent of children in Afghanistan have already observed the economic impacts of COVID 19, including the loss of employment of a parent, increased prices of basic goods in markets, or increased debt.
Due to limited public health resources and testing capacity, lack of people coming forward for testing, as well as the absence of a national death register, confirmed cases of and deaths from COVID 19 are likely to be under reported overall in Afghanistan. This is supported by the results of an early seropositivity study by MoPH, Johns Hopkins and WHO that estimated 30% of the population had been exposed to COVID 19 by June 2020.