Afghanistan Community Resilience and Livelihoods (CRL) Project
The economic and political crisis in Afghanistan has impacted the poor and vulnerable and led to significant disruptions in business activities, unemployment in rural and urban areas, and restrictions in women’s mobility and access to work. These challenges emphasize the urgent need for improved delivery or maintenance of essential services, such as community roads and streets, flood walls, and agroforestry. The ARTF’s support focuses on sustaining urgent basic services and providing short-term livelihood opportunities in rural and urban areas.
The support is being delivered through three key components: (a) emergency livelihoods support and service in rural and urban areas; (b) social grants for women and the most vulnerable in rural and urban areas; and (c) strengthening community institutions for inclusive service delivery, especially for women.
Emergency livelihoods support and service in rural and urban areas focuses on providing employment to poor and vulnerable groups through cash-for-work programs. This type of temporary employment will be created to build or rehabilitate community assets and services, including clean water, sanitation, community roads and streets, and agroforestry. Through these efforts, the project aims to increase household income and consumption levels as well as sustain access to basic rural and urban services.
Social grants for women and the most vulnerable in rural and urban areas involves providing targeted support to these groups, for example, in the form of food or grain bank support, or cash. The project prioritizes including women and vulnerable groups to foster inclusive development and enhance income and consumption.
Strengthening community institutions for inclusive service delivery, especially for women, involves building the capacities of local NGOs and community institutions to respond to crises. By strengthening such institutions, service delivery is maintained, and citizen engagement is continued, particularly among women and vulnerable groups, through community awareness programs providing information on health care services, vaccinations, nutrition, food assistance, and the importance of girls’ education.