Total people in need: 7.4 million(1)
Total children (<18) in need: 4 million
Total people to be reached in 2017: 990,000
Total children to be reached in 2017: 836,000
2017 revised programme targets
Nutrition
236,000 children under 5 with SAM admitted for treatment
30,000 returnee children 6-59 Months receiving Vitamin A supplementation
20,000 returnee children 24-59 Months receiving deworming tablets.
Health
130,000 children immunized against measles;
80,000 affected pregnant women and children benefited from essential health services and health education.
WASH
200,000 returnees, internally displaced persons, people affected by natural disasters and members of host communities accessing safe drinking water
100,000 returnees, internally displaced persons, people affected by natural disasters and members of host communities accessing sanitation facilities
Child protection
40,000 children accessing psychosocial support through child-friendly spaces
3,000 children protected and supported through case management
100,000 conflict and natural disaster affected population receive Non-food items support.
Education
- 100,000 emergency-affected children and adolescents provided with access to quality education
Afghanistan
Conflict and displacement have continued into 2017, with 68,000 new internally displaced persons (IDPs) registered in the first quarter of the year. A considerable 23 per cent of this new caseload is in hard-to-reach areas. During the first half of 2017, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented 5,243 civilian casualties (1,662 deaths and 3,581 injured) of which 1,577 were children (436 deaths and 1,141 injured). There has been a one per cent increase in child death and injuries compared to the first half of 2016. Vulnerable returnees continue to arrive from Pakistan and Iran, while services in high- returnee areas have yet to cope with the increasing demands. Malnutrition remains a problem with 1.3 million children under five in need of treatment for acute malnutrition in 2017.(2) Health services currently reach around 60 per cent of the population and this is reflected in the low routine immunization coverage (less than 75 per cent coverage for measles in one quarter of districts). The armed conflict is also affecting education services including through the closure or destruction of schools.(3)
Humanitarian strategy
The Humanitarian Country Team has prioritized hard-to-reach districts where the displacement caseload is high and access to basic services is limited. Ten provinces with higher conflict incidents were prioritized(4). These provinces host more than 50 per cent of new and prolonged IDPs.(5) UNICEF is using multiple modalities to reach communities that had not been reached for many years. UNICEF continues to lead the Nutrition and WASH clusters, and serves as a member of the Protection Cluster and Education in Emergency Working Group, to strengthen leadership, improve coordination and facilitate robust contingency planning. As of January 2017, the nutrition cluster no longer provides micronutrient powder (MNP) supplementation. Instead, UNICEF and partners enhanced emergency nutrition support to address the critical nutritional needs with a scale up of therapeutic nutritional support, vitamin A supplementation and deworming. UNICEF supports community-based schools and child-friendly spaces to provide education and psychosocial support services. Advocacy on children’s rights will continue at national and regional levels. As part of the interagency response to the harsh winter, UNICEF supports affected families with non-food items and winter kits through its Zone offices and partners countrywide.