Donate for Afghanistan
Emergency Aid for Afghanistan
Help was founded over 40 years ago to help Afghan refugees. After decades of successful development cooperation, the Taliban's return to power has triggered a severe humanitarian crisis.
Help is still active in Afghanistan and supports the population in need: we provide winter aid, supply families with relief supplies and cash aid and promote agriculture.
With the cold winter approaching, the people of Afghanistan are in urgent need of help:
How is Help providing support in Afghanistan?
Alleviating hardship
We are currently providing cash aid to families in need so that they can afford food and winter clothing. In the western Afghan provinces of Herat and Farah, we support smallholder farmers in securing their agricultural livelihoods and making them sustainable so that they can provide for themselves and their families in the long term.
Over the past 20 years, Help has been particularly committed to giving young people a self-determined future. In addition to six months of training in manual trades, the project participants received food aid and psychological support, among other things. They were then able to earn their own income and overcome poverty.
We have also dedicated ourselves to protecting children in need: We ran two orphanages in Herat, set up emergency services for violence against children and provided psychosocial support for children, young people and their caregivers.
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.
What is the situation like in Afghanistan?
Violence is part of everyday life in Afghanistan
War, violence and oppression have dominated everyday life in Afghanistan for decades. The invasion and subsequent occupation by the Soviet Union (1979-1989) was followed by years of civil war, which culminated in the Taliban coming to power. Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, the international coalition toppled the Taliban rule in Afghanistan, but the danger to the civilian population from daily 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 has provided a certain degree of stability in recent years, fighting has flared up again in the strife-torn country. In 2021, the Taliban recaptured most of Afghanistan within a few weeks and took control of Kabul. Fearing the new rulers, many Afghan families have since tried to flee their country - mostly in vain. Over 23.7 million people in Afghanistan are currently dependent on humanitarian aid. Women and children in Afghanistan are particularly vulnerable in this situation.
With the onset of winter, concerns are rising once again: 160 people died from the cold in Afghanistan in the winter of 2023. Humanitarian needs will not be met this winter either: Around 6 million people are defencelessly exposed to the cold temperatures.
Donate now for our emergency aid in Afghanistan.
Q&A
In July 2021, NATO and US troops withdrew from Afghanistan after a 20-year mission. Within a very short space of time, the Taliban once again took control of Afghanistan and have largely wiped out the development successes of the last 20 years.
There is great humanitarian need in the country: 12.4 million people have acute food insecurity and many people are on the run for fear of the new rulers. They are very worried about their safety. In particular, former employees of international organizations and their families are afraid of being tortured and killed by the Taliban.
On October 7 and 11, 2023, two earthquakes with a magnitude of 6.3 worsened the humanitarian situation once again. 20 villages were destroyed, 1,000 people lost their lives and 2,000 people were injured. According to UN figures, around 17,000 people are affected by the earthquakes and their consequences.
Our projects in Afghanistan are funded by the following donors:
- Federal Foreign Office
- Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
- UNICEF
- PATRIP Foundation
- World Food Programme
Find out which local partners we are working with in Afghanistan: Our partners
The Taliban's return to power is a bitter setback for Afghan women. Over the past 20 years, they have fought hard for their rights and achieved a lot of progress: for example, they have been allowed to go to school, study, teach, work as lawyers and participate in political decision-making processes.
Despite the Taliban's promises to respect women's rights and grant freedoms, a different picture has emerged within a few months: female journalists, activists, politicians and lawyers are being massively threatened, girls are being denied access to secondary schools and the burqa has been made compulsory again.
Access to education is particularly important for women and girls. Help therefore focuses on promoting vocational training. We also run orphanages and are committed to protecting girls and boys. Both trainees and children receive psychological support as part of our projects.
You can donate easily and securely online for our work in Afghanistan: Donate online
Alternatively, you have the option of transferring your donation to our donation account:
Help - Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe e.V.
IBAN: DE47 3708 0040 0240 0030 00
BIC: DRES DE FF 370
Keyword: Afghanistan
A donation receipt will be issued automatically for donations of 10 euros or more. Donation receipts for donations received in 2024 will be sent by post in January 2025.