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.