Request For UNHCR
Livelihoods, Economic and Inclusion
Estimated to be 43 million in 2022, the Afghanistan population comprises 49 percent women and girls with 51 percent men and boys. The country has one of the highest youth populations in the world, with 47 per cent of the population under 15 years old. Afghanistan is also characterized by high numbers of the forcibly displaced populations, including the internally displaced and returnees, especially in the context of forced returns from Pakistan. Afghanistan had an estimated 3.25 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) as of June 2023; 1.46 million IDP returnees between 2021-2023; 57,000 refugee returnees between 2023 – February 2024; 52,100 refugees and asylum-seekers as of 31 December 2023 and 870,000 host community population. The number of total returnees from Pakistan between 15 September 2023 and 27 January 2024 reached 508,000 and were expected to increase further, mainly on account of the measures implemented by the Government of Pakistan under the “Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan.
Operational Environment for the partnership – Protection and Solutions Situation
Afghanistan is faced with one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. The crisis is underpinned by multiple, complex, and interrelated challenges all of which affect the livelihoods of the people, including the forcibly displaced and returnees, pushing them into extreme vulnerability and subjecting them to diverse protection risks. The more than four decades of conflict have decimated infrastructure and disrupted production and market networks, considerably impacting income and livelihood opportunities for the people. Afghanistan also faces increasing drought incidences and intensity, and other natural disasters, which have been exacerbated by the impacts of climate change. These are negatively affecting agricultural and other productive activities thereby constraining livelihoods of the people. The agricultural sector which has been one of the largest employers of the Afghan labour force has particularly been impacted by both climate change and disasters. This vulnerability of the population engaged in agriculture is compounded by price fluctuations of inputs, notably fertilizers, poor and inefficiency water use, high levels of post-harvest losses due to pests or livestock diseases and lack of cold storage infrastructure. Investment in building resilient agriculture and upscaling efforts to insert the forcibly displaced in the agriculture value chains will be crucial to increasing opportunities for income generation, employment creation, and better economic inclusion. Promotion of alternative agriculture will enhance protection dividends especially in places where the population used to rely on poppy cultivation for their livelihoods, and of non-agriculture livelihoods leveraging regions’ endowments and the population’s traditional skills such as carpet weaving, as well as artisanal skills will spur other productive activities.
the call was amended and the summary of amendment is as below:
- A summary of the amendments is provided below:
- The application deadline has been extended to 29 March 2026.
- The deadline for submission of clarification requests has been revised to 20 March 2026.
- Budget submission is no longer required.
- The Q&A document from the meeting held on 01 March has been uploaded for your reference