Afghanistan needs long-term aid after floods

Hundreds of people have died in heavy flooding in Afghanistan. The country is regularly hit by natural disasters, but is poorly equipped to deal with them.

Severe flooding in northern Afghanistan over the past week has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people. The country's Taliban government reports that more than 1,500 people have been injured and thousands of homes damaged or destroyed.

Heavy rainfall was immediately followed by hot weather, which has hampered rescue efforts. Speaking from the Afghan capital Kabul, Thomas ten Boer, the country director of the non-governmental aid organization Welthungerhilfe, told DW: "In some areas, the temperature has risen to more than 30 degrees. Many villages are buried in mud, which dries and becomes hard, making it very difficult to remove. Some areas are hard to reach because roads have been destroyed. We're trying to provide survivors with food and drinking water," he said, but added that, right now, it wasn't possible to do more than this.

The natural disasters have completely destroyed the livelihoods of many Afghan families, who live predominantly from agriculture. People urgently need long-term help. "According to our initial estimates, more than 10,000 hectares of agricultural land were destroyed in the heavy flash flooding," Latif Nazari, deputy minister of economy in the Taliban government, told DW. He insisted that "humanitarian aid must not be tied to political demands," adding that the government in Kabul had contacted the UN and international NGOs, and had requested financial and technical support from all international donors.

Increased risk of natural disasters due to climate change
The latest natural disaster has exacerbated the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. The country is still recovering from severe earthquakes and flooding that hit just a few months ago. Afghanistan is not prepared to deal with extreme weather conditions, such as drought or sudden heavy rainfall, which have become more frequent in recent years. The country is particularly badly affected by the consequences of climate change, and at the same time is particularly badly positioned to mitigate these consequences. According to Afghanistan experts, as many as 80% of the population rely on agriculture for a living.

Added to this are other emergencies, such as the forced return of more than half a million Afghans from Pakistan, and regular deportations of large groups of refugees from Iran, as well as the loss of many income opportunities since the withdrawal of international organizations from Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover.

According to the United Nations, 97% of the Afghan population live in poverty. Around 23.7 million of the 40 million inhabitants depend on humanitarian aid to survive; six million people are on the verge of starvation. This year, 3.06 billion US dollars are needed just to support people's basic needs, particularly those of children and other vulnerable groups.

Investing in a more resilient society
"By April, only about 8% of our estimated need for humanitarian emergency and disaster relief in Afghanistan in 2024 had been met," Katja Mielke, Afghanistan expert from the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC), told DW. Donor countries, under the leadership of the United Nations, are aware that investment has to be made in the resilience and robustness of Afghan society. There are measures to improve food security, water supply, and healthcare that could be implemented on the ground by international and local organizations.

"Because of the underfunding, we can reach only a few of those in need," Mielke says. "On a strategic level, the sanctions need to be lifted promptly and the frozen state funds released in order to stimulate the economy. That way, incentives could be created for Afghan entrepreneurs to make long-term investments in structural economic activities."

On an operational level, the principle of establishing support that is community-oriented but independent of the state — as many donor countries, including Germany, are seeking — could best be implemented through direct collaboration with the communities. "Local community representatives are best placed to know what they need. Ideally, they can ensure that the distribution is needs-based, and also that women are not excluded," Mielke says.