The ICRC in Afghanistan

Gazergah, Herat, Afghanistan. Children fill jerrycans at one of the six taps that serve the whole community.

The ICRC protects detainees and helps them maintain contact with their families; monitors the conduct of hostilities and acts to prevent IHL violations; assists the wounded and disabled; supports hospital care; improves water and sanitation services; promotes IHL; and supports the Afghan Red Crescent. Read full overview

Highlights

Reference documents

Amid war and crime: humanitarian aid in high-risk environments
Persons detained by the US in relation to armed conflict and the fight against terrorism – the role of the ICRC
ICRC survey on the impact of armed conflict on civilians: views from Afghanistan

Facts and Figures

In 2011, ICRC staff:

facilitated 3,077 video telephone calls between families and their relatives held in the US-run Parwan detention facility at Bagram airfield; facilitated 1,136 family visits by providing transportation that enabled the families of detainees held in the Parwan facility to visit their loved ones in person;
worked with the Afghan Red Crescent to distribute one month's emergency food rations and essential household items to 19,110 families (133,791 individuals) displaced by the conflict or floods;
distributed nearly 920 metric tonnes of wheat, 524 metric tonnes of rice, and 410 metric tonnes of beans to over 12,070 participants in food-for-work projects;
Mirwais and Sheberghan Hospitals admitted almost 61,530 inpatients and held nearly 204,200 outpatient consultations between them. More than 13,560 surgical operations were performed in the two hospitals;
helped 73,552 patients with disabilities at the seven ICRC physical rehabilitation centres and registered 7,480 new patients, 1,224 of them amputees;
provided vocational training for 248 patients and conducted 6,856 home visits to treat paraplegics;
installed hand pumps, trained people to maintain them, and upgraded spring catchments in rural areas, benefiting 182,000 people; installed pipelines and drilled wells as part of an effort to bring clean water to nearly 230,000 people in urban communities;
continued to improve the water supply and sanitary conditions for 11,875 detainees in 13 provincial prisons.