Home Newsroom Stories Emergency cash assistance to COVID-19 affected, uprooted families rolled out in Afghanistan

Emergency cash assistance to COVID-19 affected, uprooted families rolled out in Afghanistan

February 19, 2021

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The CWSA team and Yakawalang District Governor representative on their way to an elderly, disabled participant’s home to provide cash assistance.

Atiqullah Atiq, Deputy Governor of Bamyan, visited 1st Cash distribution in Bamyan Center.

CWSA Staff distributing cash assistance to an elderly disabled person in their home, in Pasroya Village of Yakawalang #1.

Mohammad Hashim from CWSA distributing assistance to an elderly woman in Bamyan Center.

Participants were verified and registered during the first cash distribution.

Ewaz Danesh, District Governor Technical and Sectoral Manager of Panjab district shared his thoughts in Chahar Deh CDC of Panjab district during 1st Cash Distribution activity, saying, “Despite the impassable Panjab routes, the emergency team of CWSA has been effortlessly reaching remote villages to provide cash assistance. We thank their hard work in finding eligible participants from farthest villages in Panjab such as Chahar Deh.”

Azizullah Aminyar, District Governor of Waras district and Mohammad Hashim, from CWSA are distributing assistance to an elderly participant.

Najiba Masumi, Director of DoRR in Bamyan while addressing the participants at the 1st Cash distribution in Bamyan Center said, “During the COVID-19 pandemic, a huge number of IDPs entered Bamyan who were in dire need of assistance. We are happy that a number of these people can be assisted through CWSA’s emergency program.”

Community World Service Asia (CWSA) is implementing an emergency response project with the support of Presbyterian World Service & Development (PWS&D) to improve food security and enhance disaster resilience of most vulnerable, displaced and returnee communities in Bamyan province of Afghanistan.

An in-house orientation was conducted on October 28, 2020, to share project components and expected outcomes for effective implementation of activities.

Since the project initiation, the team is actively coordinating with relevant government departments and civil society members, including the Directorate of Refugees and Repatriation (DoRR), the Directorate of Economy, the Directorate of Labor and Social Affair (DOLSA), the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) and the returning refugee communities in Bamyan Province to keep them informed about project activities and approaches in the target communities. Furthermore, the Provincial Governor’s Office and three district Governor Offices (DGO) are also closely coordinated with, to plan out and implement project activities in and with the communities.

An initial survey using a household refugee list provided by the Directorate of Refugees and Repatriation (DoRR) was conducted to identify eligible project participants in four districts including Bamyan Center, Yakawalang #1, Panjab and Waras. The survey took 11 days to complete and as a result 1100 households were identified as most eligible for support. These included temporarily displaced people (TDPs), returning refugee families. households with members with disabilities, woman-headed households, and families most severely affected financially by the COVID-19 pandemic. Every household received AFN 6900 (Approx. USD 90) between December 1st and December 13th of 2020, as their first cash installment out of a total of five installments (each of US $ 90/-).

To be truly accountable and to ensure transparency of the selection process, the project participants list was shared with CWSA’s MEAL department, who then verified the participants list against the agreed eligibility criteria.

A total of 1088 households in four districts have received their first cash assistance installment, while coordination with a remaining 12 households is currently underway and will soon be completed as well.