II. Response Challenges Afghanistan is a large country with approximately 40 million people over 652,864 square kilometres. Each of the 34 provinces contains a number of districts (ranging from 5-29), and often have over 1,000 villages. The predominantly rural, mountainous terrain and poor infrastructure mean that it can take days to reach remote regions within a single province. For example, in the Badakhshan province, there are distant places such as the Wakhan District, which is located three days away by car. In other areas, animals are the only option for transportation. The roads are often disrupted and there are poor network connections to confirm travel plans or other programme needs. Even in instances where activities are well planned, delay in coordination and implementation can be common in all provinces. At times, project locations are inaccessible due to natural disasters and weather conditions. In the first few months of initial implementation, members faced additional challenges related to harsh weather and natural disasters. Throughout the winter, heavy rain snowfall impacted road conditions
and access to remote regions, affecting staff movement, as well as procurement activities. For example, in January 2022, the Helmand province experienced flash flooding in several provinces and in February, an earthquake in the Badghis province impacted approximately 800 homes. Members prioritise procurement from within the province where supplies are needed when possible to minimise delays, security concerns, and access issues. Members must be agile and adapt to changing approaches of local and national authorities towards the work of NGOs, and COVID-19 restrictions, among others. Security concerns vary across the country and can change quickly. This contributes to many DEC members adopting a low-profile in their areas of intervention and particularly when travelling. Members report that they have not experienced any direct attacks on organisational assets or staff, however, staff often frequent public locations that are vulnerable to attack. The general fear of attack in these places may limit NGO access to community members.
DEC Real Time Response Review: Afghanistan Crisis Appeal Phase 1
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