Helping Communities Rebuild 

Since 2001, CHF International has been helping communities affected by hostilities in Afghanistan through funding from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and a grant from the U.S. State Department's Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration (BPRM). CHF's current programs in Afghanistan focus on the provision of shelter and much needed humanitarian assistance.

Through the Afghan Shelter and Settlements Initiative Supporting Transition (ASSIST) program, CHF is providing humanitarian assistance through an integrated package of shelter and settlements interventions to vulnerable populations with a special focus on returnees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The program is helping more than 3,000 households with improved shelter, health and sanitation facilities in the city of Kabul.  In addition, ASSIST will increase work opportunities; health education; community mobilization; and safe habitable shelters.

CHF International has designed ASSIST to target beneficiary populations that have fled their homes for various reasons, including violence, abuse, harassment, or exploitation. ASSIST’s participatory process builds community and leadership support for all interventions facilitated by CHF International. The support is intended to mitigate potential conflicts that could result from the selection of beneficiaries for assistance, as well as spread the assistance to reach as many needed beneficiaries as possible. CHF is committed to ensuring that the program is well coordinated with the programs and plans of the municipal government, other humanitarian and development organizations and donors in Afghanistan.

With funding from USAID/OFDA, CHF is implementing the Facilitating Afghan Settlement and Transition (FAST) program. Through FAST, CHF is helping 8,000 households in Jalalabad by with improved shelter, environment and livelihoods.

Activities under the FAST program include:

• Rehabilitating shelter for vulnerable households through upgrades, expansion and improvements
• Provision of household latrine facilities
• Training in community and household-level disaster preparedness
• Promoting income opportunities through the creation of home-based production groups
• Implementing community-identified infrastructure projects, using labor-intensive construction methods and providing short-term employment
• Raising awareness of proper hygiene and sanitation practices
• Constructing water points to provide increased access to water for local communities
• Training on safe water collection and treatment practices, proper maintenance of shallow wells and water points and improved sanitation practices