AFGHANISTAN

Assistance to IDPs, Refugees, Mine Action, and Water and Sanitation
INTERSOS has been present in Afghanistan since October 2001, with its main office in Kabul and Sub Offices in Jalalabad, Maimana, Kandahar and Lashkar Gah.

INTERSOS has worked on various aspects of the Afghan emergency, with a main focus on repatriation and returns, water and sanitation, reconstruction, humanitarian demining, mine risk education, and institutional building.

INTERSOS has also taken an active role in the rehabilitation of the water and sanitation sector in the provinces where INTERSOS has operated. This strategic sector was a focus of INTERSOS’ work in order to create the conditions for the return of IDPs to their places of origin, and to avoid further displacement of drought affected rural communities Country wide activities supporting the vulnerable have led the organisation to support the empowerment of the government to assist the most vulnerable categories of the population, as well as to monitor the performance of the government in this regard.

Thanks to its expertise in humanitarian demining, INTERSOS assisted, consulted and built the capacity of one of the main demining actors in the country, and led the definition of standards for Mine Risk Education in one of the most mine-affected countries of the world.

From direct assistance to capacity building
INTERSOS has continued its work in Afghanistan with direct assistance to internally displaced persons (IDPs), as the government of Afghanistan further developed its actions to support IDPs. Mine Action activities were concluded with capacity building for local partners, a course in Mine Risk Education arising from national MRE standards, and a publication documenting the results of a two year survey on the impact of mine risk education in Afghanistan.

Considering the lessons learned while working with IDPs, INTERSOS has reduced its presence in the camps of southern Afghanistan and refugee camps in Pakistan, to concentrate its presence on the Faryab Province, where expected need was greater. In this province, INTERSOS has taken responsibility for water and sanitation, as well as capacity building for local government officials.

Focus on the vulnerable
Having acquired a significant experience in the monitoring and evaluation of the system assisting Extremely Vulnerable Individuals (EVIs), INTERSOS is assisting the Afghan government by providing contributions to monitor the screening system, identify needs and to develop government capacity with EVIs.

Civil and military cooperation and Provincial Reconstruction Teams
INTERSOS took a clear position toward civil and military cooperation particularly in Afghanistan, being strongly against the humanitarian logic of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams. PRTs are mixed operational teams of civil and military actors, which aim to extend the authority of the Afghan government by facilitating development and reconstruction through the military body CIMIC (Civil and Military Cooperation).

Although some circumstances call for a military presence with a clear mandate, INTERSOS sees the presence of PRTs as a distortion of humanitarian work, causing confusion about the goals and aims of humanitarian interventions. The presence of PRTs is also increases risk for aid workers and the humanitarian presence in the country as a whole, causing an obstacle to NGO access in areas throughout Afghanistan where PRTs are operating.

Current projects by INTERSOS Afghanistan include:
1. Capacity Building of the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation for the assistance to Extremely Vulnerable Individuals and Families – Kabul. This project is funded by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
2. Capacity Building of the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation for the assistance to Asylum Seekers – Kabul. This project is funded by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
3. Water and Sanitation project – Maimana, Faryab province. This project is funded by the European Commission (EC).