Afghanistan: Hope in the midst of crisis

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Help was founded over 40 years ago to help Afghan refugees. After decades of successful development cooperation, the Taliban's return to power has once again forced numerous people to flee. Help continues to be on the ground and supports the suffering population: we strengthen health care for displaced people, are committed to the protection of children and promote vocational training for young people.

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Table of contents

What is the situation like in Afghanistan?

A tent in an Afghan IDP camp — Numerous families in Afghanistan are currently living in dire need – this family doesn't even have a proper tent.

Terror is part of daily life

War, violence and oppression have defined the everyday lives of people in Afghanistan for decades. The invasion and subsequent occupation by the Soviet Union (1979-1989) was followed by years of civil war, culminating in the Taliban's seizure of power. Following the attacks of 11 September 2001, the international coalition toppled the regime of terror in Afghanistan, but the danger to the civilian population from daily terrorist attacks remained.

Today, Afghanistan is once again the scene of a humanitarian crisis. As a result of the withdrawal of NATO and US troops, whose deployment had provided some stability in recent years, fighting has flared up again in the shattered country. In 2021, the Taliban have recaptured most of Afghanistan and taken control in Kabul within a few weeks. Fearing the new rulers, many Afghan families have since tried to flee their country - mostly in vain. More than 24 million people in Afghanistan are currently dependent on humanitarian aid. Women and children in Afghanistan are particularly at risk in this situation.

How is Help providing support in Afghanistan?

An Afghan woman at the sewing machine — Help promotes vocational training for young people in Afghanistan.

Donors and partners: AA (Department for Foreign Affairs), BMZ (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development), UNICEF, PATRIP Foundation, WFP

Creating a future for children and young people

As part of our winter aid, we are currently providing around 6,000 families with warm clothing, wood stoves and firewood to help them survive the winter.

Over the past 20 years, Help has been committed to giving young people a self-determined future. We are now picking up where we left off and promoting vocational training in the western provinces of Herat, Badghis, Ghor and Farah. In addition to six months of training in manual trades, young women and men receive food aid and psychological support, among other things.

We are also dedicated to protecting children in need: we run two orphanages in Herat, have established emergency services for violence against children and provide psychosocial support for children, adolescents and their caregivers. In addition, we are strengthening health care on the border with Iran: in our health centre, more than 2,000 people are examined every day, in particular to enable the prevention and early detection of communicable diseases.

In the months after the Taliban came to power, our work on the ground focused on emergency relief measures: We distributed food and helped families buy winter clothing and hygiene items. From 1981 to 1997, numerous projects were implemented in Afghanistan and neighbouring countries in the areas of education, health and agriculture. Only during the Taliban rule from 1998 to 2001 did Help not implement any projects in Afghanistan.

Facts and Figures

Figures about Afghanistan

28.3 million Afghans are in need of humanitarian aid, including 13 million children in Afghanistan. (12/2022)
Famine in Afghanistan: Around 19.6 million people are unable to feed themselves. (05/2022)
2.3 million people from Afghanistan have fled to neighbouring countries (06/2022)
Displacement in Afghanistan: Around 3.5 million people are refugees in their own country. (06/2022)
Afghanistan ranks 6th poorest country in the world. (2021)

Source: ReliefWeb

Facts about Help in Afghanistan

We train 3,250 Afghan young people in skilled trades, 1,250 of whom are female.
65 % of those trained go on to permanent employment with regular income or are self-employed.
2,150 people are examined daily in our clinic on the border with Iran. Over the life of the project, more than 1.5 million people will receive medical care.
10,200 highly vulnerable conflict-affected children and youth and their caregivers receive psychosocial support.
245 children are housed in our orphanages in Herat and receive school materials, hygiene articles and blankets, for example.
400 school staff and volunteers are trained on the risks of mines and then educate more than 41,000 children and 24,000 parents about the dangers of mines and other explosives.
As part of our emergency aid, 1,400 families received financial support or food parcels last winter.
In Afghanistan, Help deployed the first German deminer.