nlp-thedeep/humsetbias huggingface dataset:
While UNAMA documented the lowest number of civilian casualties in the first nine months of 2020 since 2012, the conflict in Afghanistan remains one of the deadliest in the world for civilians. The majority of civilian casualties continue to be from ground engagements where the use of indirect fire  ( mortars, rockets, and grenades )  in populated areas makes it impossible for civilians to avoid conflict areas.
While health partners have invested heavily in extending trauma care to rural areas and closer to conflict lines, under investment in follow on rehabilitative facilities and services has left many of those who do survive to suffer from severe, life altering disabilities.
Some 15 per cent of displaced households reported going into debt to satisfy shelter needs.
Households have long lived under conflict conditions and their coping capacities are likely severely strained.
34% of the data collected through HHs level protection monitoring indicate that the respondents have no access to the civil documentation especially Tazkera. Data shows women, men and boys as the most affected with boys and men at 69%, women at 63% and girls at 44% in March 2020 this is consistent with data from the previous months.
Agencies to scale up humanitarians assistance especially Food, Health, and MPC as a priority during the COVID Response.
Pervasive lack of HLP rights means that many Afghans continuously live under the threat of eviction. Other impacts are also are wide reaching: tenure insecurity limits investment in adequate shelter/housing, livelihood generating assets, WASH services and local infrastructure.
While this shows that men are more impacted by explosive devices, their death and injury subsequently places a significant burden on women who often have to become the head of household and breadwinner to large families, while carrying out their prior duties and tending to their injured family members all at the same time. This results in accumulated stress for women and girls, who are already under immense pressure to care for their families during the COVID 19 pandemic.
The major causes for distress and mental problems included poverty or financial stress  ( 68 per cent ) , family issues  ( 15 per cent )  and conflict and violence  ( 12 per cent ) .Angry, aggressive or violent behaviour, as well as social withdrawal and inability to be alone were two markers of such behavioural changes.
In August 2020 alone, some 81 civilians were killed or injured due to improvised mines. Such an alarming rate of maiming and killing by explosive ordnance not only threatens the physical wellbeing of civilians, but also their mental health and access to livelihood opportunities.
According to the latest ERM report  ( September 2020 ) the average debt accumulated by households over the past year was 20 times higher than the average income, at the time of the assessment. Children continue to be at heightened risk as a result of this economic situation.
More than 86 per cent of IDPs are either unwilling or unable to return to their place of origin in the next six months and about half never intend to return. These people have a critical need for new land allocations and documents to provide long term tenure security. Inability to recover and recurrent shocks make these people susceptible to eviction.
Overcrowding was reported to be an issue in one third of the almost 1,150 assessed informal settlement sites. Lack of soap and water was reported in more than a quarter of hand washing facilities in these sites.
The 2020 Hard to Reach Assessments Round 3  ( July August 2020 )  shows that a staggering 95 per cent of assessed settlements people reported being negatively affected by COVID 19 in the three months prior to data collection, with 70 per cent of displaced households not having any soap as it was no longer affordable.
Some 79 per cent of all displaced households have no access to soap, while 95 per cent reported being aware of hand washing as a key preventative measure for COVID 19. This was particularly an issue for Kuchi nomads.
In hard to reach areas, 66 per cent of key informants indicated that water sources were too far away or not available.Similar concerns arise over the unavailability of safe latrines, which also heightens GBV risk.
In some locations, the proportion of children working increased during this period. Ghor and Sar i Pul were the provinces reporting the highest rates, peaking in June  ( at 81% and 63% respectively ) .
Negative coping strategies, such as child labour, early or forced marriage, and other forms of exploitation and abuse, were also being employed pre COVID 19 due to poverty, insecurity, displacement, and natural disaster, and were further seen during the 2020 school closure period.
In Afghanistan, the scale of the risk is sobering: over 8 million people have been displaced since 2012, including 4.2 mil  lion internally displaced people  ( IDPs )  and 4 million returnees from Iran and Pakistan.
In this context, 9 per cent of households practice open defecation, with female headed and lower income households over represented in this bracket. The remainder of households use only basic open latrines, which also present high contamination risks, particularly in the context of overcrowded housing. These practices can lead to physical and psychological stress, and result in adverse health impacts that could complicate COVID 19 and result in worse health outcomes.
In response to the emerging pandemic, the ICCT ( Inter Cluster Coordination Team )  developed a COVID 19 Multi Sector Humanitarian Response Plan in March of 2020. The initial, three month plan outlined preparedness and assistance efforts that complemented the health response to the COVID 19 outbreak. It articulated the elements of the existing HRP that could be rapidly scaled up or extended to new areas, as well as new activities required.
In the WoA  [ Whole of Afghanistan ]  Assessment, the majority of displaced households reported that their preferred communication modality with aid providers was via the phone/SMS  ( 49 per cent for displaced households and 43 per cent for overall shock affected )  or a community leader  ( 34 per cent for displaced households and 41 per cent for overall shock affected households ) .
These preferences  [ for accessing humanitarian aid ] already are being incorporated into the response with many clusters newly embracing cash modalities, particularly to address high transport and medical costs.
By the end of June, close to 31,000 people across all 34 provinces were confirmed to have COVID 19. However, due to limited public health resources and testing capacity, confirmed cases of and deaths from COVID 19 are likely to be under reported overall in Afghanistan. Cases are expected to continue in the second half of the year, especially as winter approaches creating grave implications for Afghanistan's economy and people's well being. With only 12 laboratories in the country and limited core supplies  ( such as laboratory reagents, test kits and ventilators ) , identification and treatment of COVID 19 cases has been difficult to roll out on the necessary scale.
To ensure that humanitarian response planning for 2020 accounts for the needs of these  [ hard to reach ]  populations, the REACH  [ Relief Effort to Afghan Communities and Households ]  Initiative, in coordination with OCHA  [ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ] , the ICCT  [ Inter Cluster Coordination Team ] , and the HAG  [ Humanitarian Access Group ] , conducted an assessment to profile multi  and inter sectoral needs in prioritised hard to reach districts.
RCCE  [ Risk communication and community engagement ]  work has focused on maintaining utilisation of health services, combatting stigma, promoting physical distancing and mitigating complacency among people continues across the country.
More than 21,000 health care providers working at COVID 19 centres in all 34 provinces were provided with 570,000 pieces of Personal Protective Equipment  ( PPE )  and non COVID 19 health facilities  ( health facilities only with outpatient services for COVID 19 )  were supported with 14,000 PPEs, to ensure continuation of essential RMCNAH services by UNICEF.
1200 oxygen concentrators and medical oxygen through oxygen balloons were also procured and distributed by UNICEF to all COVID 19 centres ( centres with inpatient and outpatient services )  at the initial stage of the pandemic which was required for critical treatment in the major cities where the high COVID 19 caseload existed at the initial stage.
A total of 23,781 health care providers from different level of health facilities were trained on Infection Prevention and Control  ( IPC )  and to detect, refer and appropriately manage COVID 19 cases in children, pregnant and breastfeeding women by UNICEF.
A total of 50,000 new born kits and clean delivery kits were distributed by UNICEF to pregnant women and new borns mothers in hard to reach areas, which enabled more than 20,000 pregnant women to give birth safely.
In partnership with 15 national and international NGOs, 18,839  ( 6,140 girls )  children at risk were provided with integrated case management services including 5,916  ( 14 girls )  Unaccompanied and Separated Minors  ( UASM )  predominantly returning from Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Europe and Gulf States.
Thirty one  ( 31 )  different types of BCC material, containing different messages were produced for mass and social media; Together, TV and radio spots aired 151,954 times on 180 channels, reached seven million individuals while the social media posts had more than 15 million views by UNICEF.
The denial of access to rights and essential resources for women and girls, including equal access to education in all parts of the country, continues to disempower and disenfranchise women, leaving many behind. Elderly people are also marginalised and are extremely vulnerable.
Humanitarian partners are currently implementing a Humanitarian Response Plan  ( HRP )  which integrates COVID  19 needs into the overall response. Of the 18.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, humanitarian partners have prioritised 15.7 million to receive support in 2021, for which US$1.3 billion is required.
Humanitarian partners are also mobilising to respond to the needs of southern Afghanistan where tens of thousands of people have been displaced by conflict placing them at greater COVID 19 risk and where there has been a surge in trauma cases.
Of displaced households in debt, the primary reason for taking on this debt was to pay for food  ( 53 per cent ) . Given this situation, there is an urgent need for additional funding for winterisation support to help struggling households survive the harsh weather ahead. 4.8 million people are in urgent need of support to survive the winter season.
As part of its regular programming, WFP distributed 5,325 metric tons  ( mt )  of food between 29 October and 4 November.
A recent ISETs Monitoring report shows that there are 1,147 informal settlements across Afghanistan; the majority  ( 78 per cent of all settlements )  are located in urban or peri urban areas, where competition for land is high and the threat of eviction is severe.
From the households who reported behavioural changes in the 2020 WoA Assessment, including distress and mental health problems, around half reported angry, aggressive and violent behaviour change due to poverty and distress. This has increased the risk that women and children experience greater levels of domestic and GBV in their homes.
Out of the 19 per cent of the households who reported that children are not living in the home, 65 per cent report that the child migrated out of the country to seek employment.
According to the 2020 WoA Assessment, 59 per cent of key informants in hard to reach areas across 120 districts said they know at least one girl under the age of 16 that was married off in the preceding three months. The same assessment further showed that 19 per cent of informants reported family separation by marriage  ( with the child being taken away from their family to be married ) , with the highest figures being reported by refugee  ( 41 per cent )  and IDP households  ( 30 per cent ) .
In the first half of 2020, children made up more than half of total civilian mine casualties, including those caused by improvised devices and ERW  ( 313 out of 579 casualties ) .
Many children struggle with marginalisation, stigma and discrimination, while displacement impedes dignified access to basic services.
[ Key COVID 19 Cumulative Response Figures / WASH Sector ]  2,921,238 people reached with WASH assistance including through hygiene promotion, handwashing and distribution of hygiene kits by health cluster. / 160,204 hygiene kits distributed, reaching 1,018,072 people. More than 5.1m bars of soap distributed in 349 districts across the country by health cluster.
COVID 19 movement restrictions introduced during 2020 trapped survivors in a confined space with perpetrators, as well as reducing access to life saving services. Similar risks are expected to re emerge if restrictions are reintroduced due to the second wave of the virus.
The WoA, Emergency Response Mechanism  ( ERM )  HEAT and War Child assessments  ( April 2020 )  all indicate a minimum 70 per cent increase in the use of loans to meet basic needs, with serious gendered implications that affect the ability of women, girls and GBV survivors to access services due to a weakened economic situation and economic dependence on others.
Two isolation wards designed to handle the most severe COVID 19 patients have opened in Faryab and Ghazni provinces, respectively, during the reporting period by health cluster partners.
Between 12 October and 8 November, 172,932 people were reached with WASH assistance, bringing the total to 2,921,238 people reached since the start of the crisis.
The announcement of school closure has interrupted children's education. Children in cold climate provinces were not able to start the new academic year in March and children in warm climate provinces were not able to complete their last three months of the academic year that would have finished in June.
During the reporting period, ES NFI partners reached 18,253 people across 6 provinces with awareness raising sessions on the prevention of COVID 19 through focus group discussions, radio broadcasting and via contracted masjids. More than 596,399 people in 16 provinces have been reached with key messages by ES NFI partners since the start of the crisis.
561 handwashing stations were set up in health facilities in 13 districts across 12 provinces; 739 health facilities have been set up in health facilities since the start of the COVID 19 pandemic.
EiEWG  ( Education in Emergencies Working Group )  supported the Ministry of Education in developing a COVID 19 education response plan, establishing three main alternative learning pathways for students – self learning; distance learning  ( mainly through TV and internet ) ; and small group learning initiatives. Regular EiEWG activities  ( education through CBEs and temporary learning classes  ( TLCs )  were re programmed to COVID 19 specific response that focused on alternative learning pathways.
Education partners have also reached more children than originally planned through distance learning  ( via TV and radio )  but this kind of reach is difficult to measure so it is not considered best practice as an indicator. While distance learning facilitated some form of continuum of education, hundreds of thousands of students planned to be reached with  ( Education in Emergencies Working Group )  EiE assistance are still excluded and will not be able to receive a comprehensive set of education services until schools are reopened.
In the first half of the year,  ( Education in Emergencies Working Group )  partners supported 54,312 children  ( 29,634 boys and 24,678 girls )  through home based learning materials across 13 provinces. Some 775,454 children  ( 443,930 boys and 331,524 girls )  are estimated to have been reached by multi media education. 77,640 children were reached with COVID 19 IEC materials across 11 provinces and 318,970 children were reached COVID 19 awareness and preventive measures through TV and radio across 4 provinces  ( 16 districts ) . In the first quarter of 2020, 170,009 children  ( 93,611 boys and 76,398 girls )  were enrolled in CBE  ( competency based education )  classes as part of the normal CBE programming.
People in Kunduz province face Stressed  ( IPC 2 )  food security conditions as of August September, and 14.2% of children under five face some form of malnutrition in the province  ( Nutrition Cluster 2019 ) .People are projected to face these levels into next year, which will likely make recovery difficult  ( FEWS Net 08/2020 ) .
Commercial international flight schedules are still unreliable, and some carriers require a negative COVID 19 test. These factors may reduce INGOs' capacities to send international staff, increasing the burden on national and locally based staff  ( OCHA C 19 Report 25/08/2020 ) .
As the lean season progresses, levels of malnutrition typically increase. Based on the results of a nutrition SMART survey conducted in Parwan province by Action Against Hunger  ( AAH )  in February 2020, the prevalence of Global Acute Malnutrition  ( GAM )  in children aged 6 59 months as measured by weight for height z score  ( WHZ )  was 8.1 percent  ( 5.8   11.2 95% C.I. )  and prevalence of Severe Acute Malnutrition  ( SAM )  by WHZ was 1.3 percent  ( 0.5   3.3 95% C.I. ) . This is classified as a poor nutrition situation.
During the first half of 2020, WASH partners reached more than 2 million people through hygiene promotion and soap distribution. Four million bars of soap were distributed across 206 districts, some of which were re programmed from the Polio eradication campaign. WASH partners provided hygiene services to more than 1.4 million people. Some 528,270 people were provided with access to water supply as part of the Cluster's COVID 19 and regular  ( non COVID 19 )  response.
GBV partners continue to provide essential services, through modalities informed by the voices of women and girls. However, the funding shortfall for GBV prevention and response services remains an obstacle to reach this objective.
National NGOs continue to make up the largest proportion of humanitarian responders in Afghanistan  ( 81 ) , followed by international NGOs  ( 68 ) , and UN organisations  ( 12 ) .
As of the end of June 2020, 123,014 people had been verified as having been displaced by conflict. Conflict related displacement occurred in 29 out of 34 provinces, with the majority of displacement occurring in the east  ( 29,268 ) , north  ( 27,839 ) , and north east  ( 25,137 ) , with these areas collectively accounting for 67 per cent of all displaced people in the first half of 2020. Almost 60 per cent of people displaced are children under the age of 18.
Existing Civil Military Coordination continues with weekly meetings with IMF  [ International Military Forces ]  and ANSF  [ Afghan National Security Forces ]  partners to discuss how best to support COVID 19 efforts.
FSAC ( Food Security and Agriculture Cluster )  partners have also noted that the purchasing power of casual labourers and pastoralists has deteriorated by 4 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively  ( compared to 14 March ) .
Risk Communications and Community Engagement: In March 2020, the World Health Organization established a temporary Risk Communication and Community Engagement  ( RCCE )  Working Group specifically for the COVID 19 outbreak to support government led RCCE efforts and “to ensure individuals are equipped with the necessary information about COVID 19, including on what it is; how it is transmitted; and how individuals and households can play a role in undertaking preventive measures.
Many rural parts of the country are still struggling to recover, particularly in terms of agriculture and livestock. Heavy rainfall caused unseasonal flooding in atypical locations in 2019 affecting some 280,000 people.
While limited access to essential services affects all members of the population, IDPs and returnees  ( particularly female IDPs )  are especially disenfranchised due to either their loss or lack of appropriate civil documentation. Many IDPs and returnees  ( estimated at 2.2m in 2017 ) are also living at constant risk from insecure land tenure and the threat of eviction from the private land on which informal settlements have been established around the country.
Natural disasters were not a major displacement driver in 2019 with flooding affecting many communities but only very short term displacement occurring, typically limited to the immediate duration of the emergency. This is in contrast to 2018 when more than 200,000 people were displaced by drought in the country's west. While numbers have not significantly changed over recent years, geographical patterns of displacement have. In 2019, displacement was more pronounced in the east, north east and north of the country  ( 81 per cent of all displacement occurred in these three areas ) , partially driven by intra NSAG fighting, especially in the east.
The Nutrition Cluster also focused on strengthening facility capacity  ( wards )  for in patient treatment of SAM. The Cluster also expanded its reach to include children at risk of malnutrition through its blanket supplementary feeding  ( BSF )  programme.
The COVID 19 pandemic has resulted in border closures delaying the timely import of food items into Afghanistan. Delays in the arrival and distribution of some food commodities were experienced due to import delays at the border with Pakistan, as well as problems at the Karachi Port, particularly affecting deliveries of vegetable oil. Such challenges caused temporary interruptions to the delivery of planned assistance.
Despite these achievements, the ES NFI Cluster remains heavily underfunded having received only 12 per cent of its requirements according to Financial Tracking System. The majority of the Cluster's response in early 2020 was achieved using funds carried over from late 2019  ( $12.7 million )  which could only be spent towards the winterisation response in the first quarter of 2020. New funding received in 2020 primarily contributed to NFI support, the unit costs of which is comparatively low.
FSAC  ( Food Security and Agriculture Cluster ) s planned COVID 19 response in urban areas has entailed a massive scale up in cash based transfers and partners assisted 326,648 COVID 19 affected people with cash and partial in kind support.
To strengthen emergency preparedness, the ES NFI Cluster continues to pre position standard emergency NFI, emergency shelter kits and emergency shelter self construction/repair tool kits in strategic locations across the country. As of 30 June, the Cluster has items pre positioned to support up to 108,000 households.
Between January and June 2020, partners reported 54 incidents affecting healthcare  ( facilities and personnel ) . Attacks on healthcare, particularly during a health pandemic, endanger people's lives and compromise the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health under international human rights law.
In response, as part of the mid year revison, the Nutrition Cluster increased its planned reach by 93 per cent. To address the nutrition needs aggravated by COVID 19, the Cluster prioritised three streams of life saving assistance  i )  treatment of children with Severe Acute Malnutrition ; ii )  treatment of children with Moderate Acute Malnutrition; iii )  maternal, infant and young child nutrition  ( MiYCN ) .
To strengthen the inclusion of national NGOs, the HAG  [ Humanitarian Access Group ]  established a monthly national NGO HAG in November 2019. This has been successful with national partners engaging in access discussions and enabling greater feedback into the larger HAG. Going forward, the HAG will further prioritise representation of national NGOs in thematic HAG working groups, to ensure their inputs are equally integrated. The HAG will continue strengthening the access capacity of the regions by increasing support to the regional HAGs and improving two way communication, with one key objective being the identification of suitable NGO co chairs for the regional HAGs.
At the country level, intermittent closures of laboratories  ( as a result of contamination  [ 5% of the total reported COVID 19 cases ]  and other capacity issues )  caused interruptions to testing. Issues relating to the lack of clear distribution plans for PPE to frontline health workers and partners also threatened safe and effective delivery of response.
More than 480,000 people were screened at land crossing, airports, and regional transit sites across the country. Some 15 million medical supply items  ( including PPE, equipment, and other supplies )  were procured by Health Cluster to support the Ministry of Public Health's response to COVID 19. Under a COVID 19 Risk Communication and Community Engagement Working Group, targeted messages on COVID 19, its risks and prevention measures were provided and more than 4.5 million people were reached as of end June 2020.
UNICEF, in collaboration with WASH cluster partners, including government counterparts at national and provincial levels and civil society organisations  ( CSO ) , delivered essential life saving WASH services to affected people across Afghanistan.
Suicide and complex attacks caused 426 civilian casualties  ( 69 killed and 357 injured )  between 1 January and 30 September 2020, a drop of 76 per cent in comparison to the same period last year. UNAMA  [ UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan ]  attributed a similar number of civilian casualties from suicide IEDs  [ Improvised Explosive Devices ]  to the Taliban and ISIL KP  [ Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant   Khorosan Province ] , respectively, during the first nine months of 2020, with the remainder attributed to undetermined Anti Government Elements.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan  ( UNAMA ) documented 1,293 civilian casualties  ( 533 killed and 760 injured )  in Afghanistan in the first three months of 2020. Violence continues to disproportionately impact children and women. From 1 January to 31 March 2020, UNAMA documented 417 child casualties  ( 152 killed and 265 injured )  and 168 women casualties  ( 60 killed and 108 injured ) .
The HAG  [ Humanitarian Access Group ]  continues to support a humanitarian environment that fosters a more open dialogue and supports organisations on their engagements with parties to the conflict to enable improved humanitarian outcomes.
United Nations Humanitarian Air Service  ( UNHAS ) also established an international airbridge – to and from Doha, three times a week – to facilitate rotation of humanitarian personnel in and out of the country. UNHAS transported 592 passengers from April to June. The airbridge will operate until commercial flights offer a reliable option. UNHAS also continues to serve all regular domestic destinations.
According to the 2020 Whole of Afghanistan Multi Sector Needs Assessment, 70 % of displaced households reported limited access to soap due to high market prices.
40% of the consulted IDPs, 45% of returnees and 27% of host community members reported an increased time required to procure water.
Anti Government Elements  ( AGEs )  caused slightly more civilian deaths than Pro Government Forces in the first nine months of 2019, contrary to the first half of 2019 when Pro Government Forces caused more civilian deaths.
According to the 2020 Whole of Afghanistan Multi Sector Needs Assessment, 45% of displaced households reported lack of access to water for handwashing.
To respond to the new challenges brought on by the pandemic, the Protection Cluster maintained its core services with a shift towards focus on mobile teams to ensure a broader reach within communities, especially vulnerable people, during movement restrictions.
Protection monitoring and awareness raising were also scaled up to reach more communities and identify vulnerable households by protection cluster.
Since the start of the pandemic, school children in Afghanistan have lost several months of schooling  ( between 14 March and 3 October ) .
Since March, there has been 9% jump in the proportion of the population facing food acute food insecurity  ( IPC 3+ ) .
An estimated 16.9 million people are in crisis or emergency food insecurity from November 2020 to March 2021, 5.5 million of whom are in ‘emergency' level food insecurity  ( IPC 4 ) .
General food distributions by humanitarians reached 3.2 million people between January and June 2020, including those affected by the deep socio economic blow brought upon by the COVID 19 pandemic.
In Hilmand province, fighting between Afghan National Security Forces  ( ANSF )  and a non state armed group  ( NSAG ) continued in Nahr e  Saraj and Nawa e Barakzaiy districts.
The security situation remained unstable with continued reports of fighting and IED ( Improvised Explosive Device )  attacks in Kabul, Logar, Maidan Wardak, Khost and Paktya provinces.
This week [ 18 24 January 2021 ] , 3,654 people displaced by conflict received humanitarian assistance for winter in Daykundi, Ghazni, Kabul and Maidan Wardak provinces.
World Bank estimates indicate that the COVID 19 virus and related containment measures have already led to an indicative revenue loss of up to 30 per cent  ( $800m less than 2019 )  and at least a 5 7 per cent contraction in GDP  ( compared to the 3 per cent growth that had been originally predicted ) .
Attacks on aid: Afghanistan remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world for humanitarians. Widespread insecurity continues to challenge humanitarian access, as well as the safety of humanitarian personnel. In the first half of 2020, the Afghanistan Humanitarian Access  ( HAG )  recorded 96 incidents of violence against humanitarian personnel, assets or facilities. Worryingly, this included 24 abduction incidents. The increase in abductions also comes against the backdrop of the ongoing prisoner release process between the Government of Afghanistan and the Taliban.
Organisations such as the HAG  [ Humanitarian Access Group ]  and INSO  [ International NGO Safety Organization ] , as well as community representatives, continue to provide information on changing security, access trends and ongoing fighting in order to support sustained humanitarian programming across the country.
From 1 January to 30 June 2020, the ES NFI Cluster reached 438,575 people  ( 23 per cent men, 22 per cent women, 28 per cent boys and 27 percent girls )  with shelter, NFIs and winterisation assistance.
To address the effects of COVID 19, the ES NFI Cluster provided NFI kits to people considered to be at higher risk of transmission  ( due to their living situations – mostly IDPs and those in informal settlements )  to reduce the number of households sharing core household items and to replenish existing supplies.
The scale, severity, and complexity of needs for emergency and transitional shelter remains high. The ES NFI Cluster cluster continues to see an increasing trend in the need for rental support for returnees and IDP households who have lost their livelihoods because of COVID 19 lockdown measures.
Achievements During the first quarter of 2020, the ES NFI Cluster Cluster continued the delivery of winter support to people residing in the coldest parts of the country under a joint plan with the Government of Afghanistan, with support from 23 partners and donors. The Cluster received $20.4m, reaching 76,589 households – some 80 per cent of those targeted for winter assistance.
Populations who are forcibly displaced, internally or cross border, are exposed to a host of protection risks both pre  and post flight, including insecure tenure, and secondary and multiple displacement.
Children are disproportionately affected by Afghanistan's protection crisis. In 2020, children comprise 56 per cent of people in need. Persistent violence, discrimination, and denial of access to essential services – particularly education and healthcare – undermine their right to a safe and secure environment, compromising their physical and psychological well being.
The complex petition system established by the Government to verify IDPs over recent years was time consuming and had been causing significant delays in the delivery of assistance. After several years of negotiations by OCHA on behalf of the humanitarian community, new Standard Operating Procedures  ( SOPs )  were signed by the Government and the Humanitarian Coordinator in May 2019. The new SOPs confirm that the petition system is no longer the primary entry point for IDPs to receive humanitarian assistance, making the process of verifying and responding to displacement more efficient and flexible. A regional awareness raising programme is now underway to ensure that the SOPs are disseminated to relevant humanitarian personnel and government officials in the field with clear instructions about their immediate implementation.
Electricity is unreliable across the country as a result of both infrastructure deficiencies and conflict although the public's perception of the nation's electricity supply has improved slightly according to perception surveys in 2019, with 20 per cent of respondents reporting that the situation has gotten better, up from 16 per cent in 2018.The vast majority of urban respondents  ( 91% )  get their power from the grid, while over half  ( 53% )  of rural respondents get their power from solar panels and almost 28 per cent get their power from the grid. Attacks by NSAGs on power infrastructure caused significant outages in the capital in September 2019.
The pandemic has had severe impacts on the livelihood and subsistence of individuals, especially students and teachers in the country's fragile education sector.
More recently, in late August conflict in Kunduz City and villages across Khanabad and Imam Sahib districts have displaced around 64,000 individuals. Overall, the majority of displacements thus far in 2020 have occurred in the east, north, and northeast regions.
UNOCHA reports that around 122,000 individuals were forced to flee their homes due to conflict from January to July 2020.This is fewer people than during the same time period of 2019, when 274,000 individuals were displaced due to conflict. This reflects a pattern of reduced conflict in 2020 relative to previous years   though still high overall   according to data from ACLED.
Organisations working in the health sector are particularly impacted  [ by challenges from stakeholders ] , with NSAG  [ Non State Armed Groups ]  health representatives often pushing for an upgrade in services in their areas. This pressure has escalated during the COVID 19 pandemic with NSAGs demanding that health services in contested areas be provided at commensurate levels with government controlled areas, despite the security constraints and irrespective of needs.
Following the announced deal between the US and the Taliban in late February, international military forces  ( IMF )  began withdrawing troops and handing over more responsibilities to the Afghan security forces, including the conduct of airstrikes.
Assessments show that water supply needs and access to soap are challenging for many Afghans. A Multi Sector Needs Assessment  ( MSNA )  conducted by OXFAM in mid April 2020  ( in Hirat, Bamyan, Daikundi, Nangarhar and Kunduz provinces )  showed that 75 per cent of the people assessed lacked soap for hand washing and 45 per cent were in need of safe water supply.
The WASH Cluster also pre positioned key supplies – hygiene kits, water kits and chlorine powder – in districts identified to be at high risk of community transmission as per the Cluster's geographic prioritisation. These items – 36,555 hygiene kits, 2,197 water kits, 2,479 latrine slabs, 47 water storage tanks of different capacities, 2.4 million aqua tabs and 1,900kg of chlorine powder – were pre positioned in 45 locations across 27 provinces and can service up to 200,000 people for one month.
Almost all of the interviewed girls and boys said that the relationship between parents and children changed negatively and was affected by the economic hardship; 53.2% of surveyed children who said they are more eating alone, physical activity level is decreasing and almost half  ( 47.5% )  and 100% of surveyed children said they couldn't interact remotely with their friends mainly due to the lack of connectivity and devices
COVID19 is a threat to responders and people in need, it does also strain already limited healthcare resources  ( OCHA 25/08/2020 ) .
The majority of women IDPs have limited or no access to basic services such as health and education, for reasons which include lack of documentation, unavailability of services, and social and cultural barriers.
Systematic violations of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law continue to be reported, ranging from deliberate attacks on health and education facilities to targeted killings, and the forced recruitment of children.
To prevent trauma, death, and lifelong impairments, Mine Action partners cleared around 4.42 square kilometres of land and provided 559,000 people with EORE (  Explosive Ordnance Risk Education )  in the first half of 2020.
Since the onset of the pandemic, more than 4.5 million people were reached with messages on COVID 19, its risks, preventative and care measures by health cluster.
Aid agencies continue to face challenges with parties to the conflict attempting to interfere with humanitarian activities, including programme parameters, staff recruitment and beneficiary selection, all contravening the provisions of the interagency Joint Operating Principles  ( JOPs )  that were agreed to by the HCT  [ Humanitarian Country Team ]  in late 2019.
In urban areas both availability of casual labor opportunities and casual labor wages have improved slightly due to the removal of domestic and border restrictions, but availability of labor opportunities is still significantly below the same time last year and the five year average. Other income earning opportunities remain impacted and have not recovered yet.
Also, on 19 January, 16,436 people received household items as humanitarian assistance for winter support in Maymana city, Faryab province.
Some 9,106 returnees, internally displaced persons  ( IDPs ) , and people from host communities were reached with emergency outpatient health services as humanitarian assistance; and 8,255 children were vaccinated to protect them against polio and measles.
In Uruzgan province, clashes between Afghan National Security Forces  ( ANSF )  and a non state armed group  ( NSAG )  continued in Dehrawud, Gizab and Tirinkot districts.
WFP also distributed 105 million All Funds Needed to COVID 19 affected households in Badakhshan and Takhar province.
The lack of dietary diversity for poor families, particularly those who have been displaced, requires urgent attention to ensure food support safeguards basic nutrient intake needs.
There is need for more COVID 19 awareness raising and hygiene promotion across the country to curb the spread of the virus.
The WASH pipeline is in urgent need of replenishment to cover both COVID 19 response and new conflict induced IDP needs; hygiene kits tailored for the COVID 19 response are also in high demand.
There is no health system without a workforce; COVID 19 among healthcare workers has hampered the pandemic response and the provision of other essential health services.
There is a need to improve staff capacity, increase resources and strengthen the fragile health system to better manage severe cases of COVID 19 during the second wave of the pandemic.
However, insufficient resources being allocated for tick control across the country posed as a challenge for the response, and only passive, inadequate disease surveillance was conducted by the animal sector. But the ministry has identified a way forward to mobilize adequate resources for the implementation of the national response plan, build capacity for genotyping and sequencing of the Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever  ( CCHF )  virus, and conduct continuous training of health care workers on prevention, control and case management of Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever  ( CCHF ) .
Despite a deal signed between the United States and Taliban in February 2019, a week long reduction in violence in February and a temporary Eid ceasefire, by the end of June, both the Afghan National Security Forces  ( ANSF )  and the Taliban had resumed active  conflict postures. Uncertainty around the future of the US Taliban agreement, intra Afghanistan peace talks and the intentions of other non state armed groups  ( NSAGs ) , primarily Islamic State of Khorasan  ( ISK ) , provided the background for a highly dynamic security situation, trapping civilians in a pervasive protection crisis.
Since the start of the crisis, 29 isolation wards have been opened by Health Cluster partners across the country.
There is a need to improve staff capacity, increase resources and strengthen the fragile health system to better manage severe cases of COVID 19 amidst a potential second wave.
At $3.85 billion, the Global HRP for COVID 19 is currently 40.6 per cent funded. This includes Afghanistan's COVID 19 response requirements from the revised HRP  ( June 2020 ) .
For displaced households in debt, the primary reason for taking on this debt was to pay for food  ( 53% ) .
Almost 8% of the total confirmed COVID 19 cases are among healthcare staff.
A total of 287 households with persons with disabilities were reached, out of 3,106 households, with cash transfers by UNICEF.
In partnership with 15 national and international NGOs,winterisation kits were provided to over 104,510 children in the most vulnerable areas.
Teachers were oriented by UNICEF on their tasks which included distribution of learning materials and monitoring of children's engagement; support to COVID 19 prevention and protection measures' awareness with community mobilizers and distribution of hygiene kits; basic psychosocial support to children and their families.
Of the total reached  ( 230,000 people )  with water supply services in 2020 by UNICEF in collaboration with WASH cluster partners, about 224,000  ( 97% )  people benefited from sustainable and climate resilience water supply systems equipped with renewable energy  ( solar  power ) . This is a solid achievement and display good example of humanitarian  development linkages in water supply provision.
In addition, over 125,000 people affected by conflict and natural disasters were reached with hygiene promotion activities including over 10,000 families with hygiene kits by UNICEF, in collaboration with WASH cluster partners.
1200 oxygen concentrators were provided to 81 district hospitals allowing them to manage more than 1,200 confirmed COVID 19 cases per month by UNICEF.
From January to December, UNICEF and partners treated 310,470 children  ( 138,047 boys, 172,423 girls )  with SAM reaching 80 per cent of the target and only 40% of the total children in need. The treatment services achieved an acceptable level of performance during 2020, with cured, default, death and non cured rates at 86.2%, 11.1%, 0.5% and 2.2%, respectively. The nutrition services are being delivered through Basic Package of Health Services  ( BPHS )  health facilities and integrated mobile health and nutrition approach.
After reaching the highest levels recorded during the past four years in May 2020 and declining somewhat in subsequent months, wheat flour prices have generally remained stable at the national level since November 2020 likely due to stability in exports from Kazakhstan.
The ICCT ( Inter Cluster Coordination Team )  has continued developing thematic preparedness plans for a range of emergencies  ( COVID 19, flooding and earthquakes ) , and held a series of capacity building workshops, including workshops on: cash capacity building, ICCT monitoring
In rural areas, accessing health facilities can be incredibly challenging. Often clinics are far from people's homes and there are transportation costs to reach the clinics.
Nearly half of displaced people in hard to reach districts use unprotected water sources – springs, wells, rivers and streams.
Additionally, 19,800 refugees; 23,000 returnee children when compared to other population groups, with 15 per cent of these households reporting having married a child in the 30 days prior to data collection.
Instead, women's relationship to land in Afghanistan is typically secondary – through her relationship with a male owner.
Findings from the 2020 WoA Assessment suggest that only 20 to 30 per cent of returnees, IDPs, and refugees were aware of the presence of explosive hazards  ( mines, ERW and improvised mines )  in or near their communities.
Based on a scenario of current conditions continuing into 2020 and 2021 and analysis of past and present trends in health needs, some 3.9 million people will require trauma care and emergency health services in 2020 and some 4.13 million in 2021.
Targeted debt assistance on a case by case basis folded into case management interventions, as a way of alleviating psychosocial distress.
Parties to the conflict killed, kidnapped, injured, and threatened health workers; damaged health facilities; and looted or robbed ambulances.This is expected to have affected 1.2 million people across at least 40 districts in 17 provinces in the first ten months of 2020. Such interruptions not only lead to avoidable deaths, but also reduce the quality and quantity of care provided resulting in deteriorating health outcomes.
A significant body of evidence indicates that women and girls are disproportionately negatively affected by conflict and natural disaster through increased gender based violence  ( GBV ) , as a result of multiple overlapping factors including the breakdown of social support and safety networks and pre existing gendered divisions of power and labor whereby women and girls take up the majority of caregiver responsibilities, and face higher levels of discrimination accessing labor and resources for recovery.
The access environment across Afghanistan and the 33 provinces where ERM is present remains complex, with humanitarian space constricting in the period of May to July 2020 as compared to the 3 months preceding. In line with an increased overall reporting of access impediments by the wider humanitarian community during this period, ERM partners reported 15 assessment areas with access restrictions, impediments, including presence of armed actors or checkpoints limiting movement for either humanitarians or affected community members. .
Of the people in need of shelter and NFI assistance, more than two thirds  ( 67 per cent )  report having either severe or critical ES NFI gaps, with the highest need being among refugees  ( 94 per cent )  and recent IDPs  ( 86 per cent ) .
Lack of adequate shelter exposes households to a variety of protection risks, including the lack of privacy, eviction, exploitation and abuse, and in some cases increased exposure to sexual and gender  based violence.
In Badghis, Bamyan, Ghor, Hilmand, Kandahar, Khost, Laghman, Logar, Nangarhar, Paktika, and Sar e Pul, the use of makeshift shelters is much higher than the national average, with 9 out of 10 respondents reporting they were living in these sub standard conditions.
Meanwhile, the average amount of healthcare spending is highest among households headed by a person with a disability; 2800 AFN  ( approximately $36.34 )  compared to 2300 AFN  ( approximately $29.85 )  for others. This is a substantial burden when factoring in that 93 per cent of the population is living on less than $2 per day. Physical access is another barrier.
In 2020, there was an 11 per cent increase of households adopting emergency coping strategies  ( as compared to 2019 )  further delaying people's early and medium term recovery.
Since the start of the COVID 19 crisis in March 2020, there has been a 9 per cent jump in the number of people facing acute food insecurity.
The range of shelter issues reported by displaced households includes a lack of insulation  ( 59 per cent ) , leaking during rain  ( 44 per cent ) , poor ventilation  ( 36 per cent )  and presence of dirt or debris attributed to use of sub standard building materials  ( 15 per cent ) .
80% of non recent IDPs report having either severe or critical ES NFI needs.