Afghanistan

The ICRC has been serving the people of Afghanistan for over 40 years, protecting, and assisting them amidst the consequences of armed conflicts and overlapping challenges. 

Two men with a view over the city of Kabul.

Our work in Afghanistan

The ICRC is responding to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan by providing basic health care and physical rehabilitation support, helping people establish livelihoods and earn money, reconnecting families that have been separated by the conflicts, and improving access to clean water, sanitary facilities and electricity. We work together with the Afghan Red Crescent Society and other partners of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

Kabul. A group of children working in the street. Afghanistan's economic crisis is mainly due to the fact that development aid has stopped, causing the economy to collapse. The number of child laborers has tripled.

The impact of our work - In 2023

581,548
patients, mostly women and children, received primary health care at 47 health facilities run by the Afghan Red Crescent Society and supported by the ICRC
102,226
patients were assisted in seven ICRC-supported physical rehabilitation centres
87
cases of missing people were resolved and their whereabouts were ascertained
60
Red Cross messages and 19 oral “safe and well” messages were exchanged between detainees and their families, and 95 Red Cross messages were collected from or distributed to the people concerned
3,525
families (28,200 people) received multipurpose cash assistance in Ghazni, Lashkar Gah, Herat and Panjshir to meet their basic needs
434,040
people saw an improvement in their electricity supply following the provision of 75,000 litres of fuel, three diesel generators, electrical equipment and transformers to Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS)

Stories from the people we serve

Without the ICRC’s home-schooling programme, people who use wheelchairs and those not able to go to public or private schools would all be illiterate.

The cash assistance brought us back to life. It was like throwing a fish back into the sea.

Our services in Afghanistan

  • Through our Protection of Family Links service, in cooperation with the Afghan Red Crescent Society, we seek to reunite family members separated by armed conflict, other violence, natural disasters, migration or detention. This service also helps restore and maintain family contact and, when needed, facilitates the reunification of minors with their family members.

  • The ICRC supports seven physical rehabilitation centres across Afghanistan, in Kabul, Nangarhar, Badakhshan, Balkh, Herat, Gulbahar and Helmand. In 2022, we helped more than 13,000 people with physical disabilities, including patients diagnosed with cerebral palsy. If you are living in one of the above-mentioned provinces or a neighbouring one, please visit one of our centres.

Contact us

Address

Street 15, Lane 1, House #4, Wazir Akbar Khan, Kabul, Afghanistan

Opening Hours:

8am–5pm

Our work with the Afghan Red Crescent Society

The ICRC works in cooperation with the Afghan Red Crescent Society and other Movement partners. The Movement is the biggest humanitarian network in the world. By complementing each other’s efforts, we are able to move forward and deliver more.