The funding from Japan will allow those agencies to address humanitarian challenges through provision of vital support to refugees returning from Pakistan and Iran, and to people suffering from food insecurity, malnutrition, natural disaster, displacement and other critical situations. The contribution responds to requirements under UNOCHA’s 2016 Humanitarian Response Plan.
1) Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) – USD 4,000,000
Funding from the Government of Japan will support UNHCR to facilitate voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees from Iran and Pakistan, foster sustainable reintegration of the returnees in Afghanistan, and deliver humanitarian assistance to refugees in the south-eastern part of Afghanistan. Japan’s contribution will help UNHCR to provide protection and monitoring of returnees, as well as to maintain the functioning of three encashment centres in Herat, Nangarhar and Kabul provinces, benefitting an estimated 30,000 Afghan returnees.
2) United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) – USD 2,300,000
Contribution from the Government of Japan will enable UNICEF to provide water, sanitation and hygiene services to nearly 20,000 individuals who have been affected by conflict or natural disaster. The project supported by the Japanese fund will also facilitate protection of about 22,000 children and parents in emergency situations and reintegration of about 4,800 unaccompanied Afghan children repatriated from Iran to Afghanistan.
3) United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) – USD 2,000,000
Funding from the Government of Japan will support demining activities in Kandahar, Kunduz, and Farah provinces, where many communities remain affected by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW). It is expected that a total of 1.76 square kilometers of land will be cleared of landmines and ERW, directly benefiting 13,198 people who reside within 500 meters from contaminated areas, with indirect beneficiaries estimated at 456,885. The assistance will contribute to socio-economic development as well as an overall reduction of civilian casualties.
4) World Food Program (WFP) – USD 8,000,000
Funding from the Government of Japan will help to directly address food insecurity and malnutrition in Afghanistan, as well as to provide Humanitarian Air Services. WFP will procure, transport, and distribute over 6,850 metric tonnes of food commodities including fortified wheat flour, fortified vegetable oil, pulses, salt and Ready to Use Supplementary Food. The food assistance is to assist about 100,000 vulnerable people with a family ration for the period from two months to nine months, especially survivors of natural disasters, internally displaced persons malnourished children and nursing mothers. In addition, WFP will operate air transportation services for passengers and cargos to facilitate humanitarian and development activities in Afghanistan, including timely medical and security evacuation as required.
5) International Organization for Migration (IOM) – USD 5,000,000
Funding from the Government of Japan will support IOM to provide humanitarian assistance to 26,720 highly vulnerable undocumented Afghan returnees from Pakistan and Iran. Additionally, the project will establish and pilot a reintegration tracking mechanism for vulnerable undocumented returnees in the high-return provinces of Kabul, Nangarhar, Herat, Nimroz, Khost and Paktika. Japan’s contribution will also help to facilitate return of 65 highly qualified Afghans from Iran, 35% of whom are expected to be female, to work in, and transfer their skills to, public institutions in Kabul.
Japan has been strongly supporting Afghanistan’s nation-building efforts in a wide range of fields from security to economic and social development, providing assistance in various sectors including agriculture, education, health, infrastructure, rural development, and human capacity development. Cumulative Japanese assistance to Afghanistan since 2001 amounts to USD 6.131 billion.
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