Project description

Title: Emergency aid: flooding in northern Afghanistan
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ))
Country: Afghanistan
Lead executing agency: Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development
Overall term: 2009 to 2011

Context

Exceptionally strong and sustained rainfall caused flooding and landslides in the northern Afghan provinces of Balkh, Badakhshan and Takhar in the spring of 2009. Approximately 160 people died and around 20,000 livestock were killed. All in all, the livelihoods of some 22,000 households were destroyed. A large number of roads and bridges were impassable, with some regions cut off from the rest of the country for weeks.

Objective

The livelihoods have been reinstated for households affected by flooding in selected provinces of northern Afghanistan (Balkh, Badakhshan and Takhar).

Approach

On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), GIZ’s development-oriented emergency and transitional aid (DETA) team is supporting the rebuilding of infrastructure. This work focuses on building flood protection walls to protect the fields from imminent flooding and to prevent erosion, as well as on restoring the drinking water supply and repairing village connections and supply routes as well as irrigation and drainage systems.

The team is working in close cooperation with local community development committees. In coordination with the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority, it is also giving advice to local disaster management bodies and public administrations at the district and provincial levels.

Results achieved so far

To date, the project has reached more than 150,000 people in Balkh province and more than 9,700 people in Khulm. Almost 2,700 households in Balkh and nearly 600 households in Khulm have been supported with cash-for-work initiatives. This income is stimulating the regional economy and is helping to reduce poverty. Infrastructure rebuilding is putting in place the foundation for further development processes in the region.

• Education for all
  Basic and vocational education in Afghanistan (2010)
  en-factsheet-bildung-afghanistan.pdf, 0.13 MB (English)
• Water – a source of life
  Improving water supplies in Afghanistan (2010)
  en-factsheet-wasser-afghanistan.pdf, 0.94 MB (English)
• One person can make a difference
  Specialists and management staff in key jobs secure development (2010)
  en-factsheet-cim-afghanistan.pdf, 0.16 MB (English)
• Riches in the ground – commodities
  Extraction and use of raw materials in Afghanistan (2010)
  en-factsheet-rohstoffe-afghanistan.pdf, 0.16 MB (English)
• Improving living conditions in rural Afghanistan
  Rural development in the north of the country (2010)
  en-factsheet-laendliche-entwicklung-afghanistan.pdf, 0.76 MB (English)