Introduction
In 2022, Luxembourg continued to support the most vulnerable population in Afghanistan through several different channels. Bilaterally, the Luxembourg Development Cooperation extended its contribution to a health project set up by the Aga Kahn Foundation (AKF).
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The project consists of providing medical assistance to vulnerable people, mainly women, children and the elderly, and to prisoners, in the provinces of Badakhshan, Takhar and Baghlan. Luxembourg’s contribution is mainly being used to guarantee the wages of workers in the health sector, as well as the supply of basic medical equipment to hospitals and health care centres. The sum invested up to 28 February 2023 was EUR 536 139. This project is part of a larger project seeking to prevent the collapse of the Afghan health system. At the end of 2022, a decision was taken to increase the contribution to this project by EUR 800 000, in order to guarantee the continuity of basic health services in the country. With the resurgence of hostile acts against women and girls, it is becoming increasingly difficult to implement projects where women are placed on an equal footing with men, both as beneficiaries and as implementing partners. It should be noted that, unlike all the cross-border projects by the PATRIP Foundation (Pakistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan Regional Integration Programme), this project is only being implemented in Afghanistan.
Multilaterally, Luxembourg is contributing EUR 1 million per year until 2024 to the project “Household Food and Livelihood Security (HFLS) and Support for the Development of an Effective Extension System” by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in the area of food security, which has become increasingly fragile in Afghanistan since the Taliban took power. The project aims to reduce food insecurity among the poorest families in four districts in particular, namely Chahar Asyab, Jabal Siraj, Qarghayi and Mohammad Agha. The project involves careful selection of means of subsistence, targeting diverse sources of income and food, and introducing technologies and practices geared towards resilience and adaptation to climate change.
The Luxembourg Development Cooperation is also part of the Special Trust Fund for Afghanistan (STFA), alongside 10 other donor countries and numerous UN organisations. The Trust Fund was established to prevent a humanitarian disaster and the socio-economic collapse of the country, which would lead to increased instability, serious security threats and migratory flows in Afghanistan, the region and beyond. The Fund serves as an interinstitutional mechanism to enable donors to channel their resources and coordinate their support for the ABADEI strategy. The ABADEI strategy (Area Based Approach for Development Emergency Initiatives) is being implemented in collaboration with other UN agencies, funds and programmes. Following an initial contribution of EUR 2 million in 2021, an additional contribution was announced at the end of 2022, in order to meet the growing needs in the country, especially of women and girls who see their future darkening day by day. The decree of 24 December 2022 prohibiting women from working with national and international NGOs has plunged Afghan women into further distress.