On December 23, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a Grant Agreement (G/A) with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for a grant of up to 1,797 million yen for the “Project for Improving Living Conditions in Areas Hosting Internally Displaced Persons and Returnees in Southern Afghanistan (UNHCR Partnership)”. Grant Agreement (G/A) was concluded.
In Afghanistan, the long-standing conflict and unrest have resulted in many internally displaced persons and refugees fleeing to neighboring countries, while at the same time many are returning to Afghanistan under difficult circumstances. It is not easy for internally displaced persons and returnees to establish a living environment and livelihood, and most of them depend on unstable sources of income such as day labor and are impoverished.
In particular, the five southern provinces (Kandahar, Helmand, Ouluzgan, Nimrouz, and Zabul), which account for 25% of the country’s land area, have a population of approximately 3 million, of which about one-third are internally displaced persons and returnees, and since these provinces border Pakistan and Iran, the number of internally displaced persons and returnees is increasing The number of internally displaced persons and returnees tends to increase due to the border with Pakistan and Iran. As a result, there is a lack of facilities for health, water and sanitation, education, and livelihoods for IDPs, returnees, and residents of host communities, and improvement of these facilities is an urgent issue.
This project will contribute to Goal 3 (health and welfare for all), Goal 4 (quality education for all), and Goal 6 (safe water and latrines worldwide) of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) by improving the living conditions of impoverished communities in five provinces in southern Afghanistan through the provision of health, water, sanitation, education and livelihood facilities for IDPs, returnees and host community residents. Goal 3 (health and welfare for all), Goal 4 (quality education for all), and Goal 6 (safe water and toilets for all) of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). This cooperation will be implemented as humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan through UNHCR, and will also be linked to the humanitarian-development-peace nexus.
The details of the project are as follows
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