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. 

ICRC Doctor checking the ankle of a child seated on an examination table

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: January to June 2024

434,812

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

99,457

patients were assisted in seven ICRC-supported physical rehabilitation centres

113

cases of missing people were resolved and their whereabouts were ascertained

81

Red Cross messages and 1 "Salamat" (oral short message) were exchanged between detainees in Afghanistan and their families

396

households (3,168 people) earned income through cash-for-work projects in Herat, Kandahar and Panjshir

211,000

people received improved electricity supply through the donation of transformer oil, electrical equipment and transformers to Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat

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.