Afghanistan Humanitarian Response Plan 2018-2021 (January 2021 revision)

The response strategy in 2021 follows the revised scope of humanitarian action agreed at the end of 2019, allowing for the provision of life-saving humanitarian assistance to those immediately affected by shocks as well as those who are vulnerable due to past crises whose needs remain acute. With COVID-19 exposing deep economic challenges for those in informal employment, the 2021 response will have a more intense focus on urban areas compared to past years. A hybrid approach is employed in this multi-year HRP using most elements of the enhanced planning approach but combining these with the core features of the original plan. The response will aim to address the needs of people facing acute vulnerabilities such as extreme household debt; mental and physical disability; the use of dangerous negative coping strategies; returnees; refugees; and those living in households headed by women, children or the elderly, whose positions in society put them at a disadvantage. 

COVID-19 responses have been mainstreamed through the overall response, along with protection considerations. Most of the critical recovery or system-strengthening activities that were paused or scaled-down in 2020 will be resumed in 2021. In 2020, humanitarian partners demonstrated their capacity to rapidly scale-up response and adopt a series of flexible needs assessment and response delivery approaches – through mobile teams and more cash-based assistance – and these will mostly continue in 2021 due to the ongoing threat from the pandemic. 162 organisations who delivered services in 99 per cent of districts across the country in 2020,  are primed to deliver a well-coordinated life-saving response in the most difficult of circumstances in 2021. Having recently assessed their capacity, a significant number of these organisations have indicated they have the scope to further expand their operations with added funding.