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Afghanistan Emergency
Donate now to help struggling families survive
Donate now to help struggling families survive
Pakistan and Iran have begun deporting Afghan refugees or pressuring them to leave. Many are arriving in a country they left decades ago, or have never known.
Afghanistan is already in crisis, with almost half the population in need of humanitarian assistance. At the same time, brutal funding cuts are threatening vital services such as healthcare, legal assistance, and support for women and girls.
UNHCR is supporting returning Afghans with financial aid to cover essentials such as food and transport, but much more help is needed.
Donate now to help vulnerable Afghan families.
After spending more than four decades in Pakistan, Ezatullah was forced to return to Afghanistan with his family. Tens of thousands of Afghan families have crossed back into Afghanistan due to increased pressure and deportations.
Families are struggling to survive without sufficient shelter, food or water. Millions of women and girls are unable to exercise their human rights, including to study and work.
UNHCR will stay and deliver for as long as needed in Afghanistan. Caring teams are identifying the most vulnerable people and assisting families by repairing homes, providing cash, and distributing basic supplies such as tents, blankets and solar lamps.
Your donation can help us reach vulnerable families in Afghanistan. With your help, UNHCR can provide shelter, clean water, cash assistance, and relief items including blankets, tarpaulins and hygiene kits.
Your gift can provide essential items including tents, blankets, solar lamps and clothing for families who’ve lost everything.
Your gift can provide emergency shelter to protect vulnerable families from a harsh winter.
Your gift can provide cash assistance for Afghan families so they can pay for food, heating, medicine and other essentials.
Your gift can provide vulnerable Afghan families with shelter, clean water and emergency cash.
Afghanistan is one of the world’s most urgent crises. Human rights violations, economic instability and food insecurity are threatening the lives of millions of Afghans.
Communities are still struggling to rebuild their lives after a series of disasters, including deadly floods in 2024 and earthquakes in 2023.
Afghanistan has already endured 40 years of conflict and instability, leaving more than half the population in urgent need of humanitarian aid.
These ongoing challenges have stretched refugees, internally displaced people and host communities to their limits. The recent spike in returns from Pakistan and Iran is placing additional strain on Afghanistan's already overstretched resources and services and increasing the risk of further displacement.
Most displacement in Afghanistan has been internal, with natural disaster, conflict and instability forcing people to flee their homes and seek refuge in other parts of the country.
Outside Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan have generously hosted Afghan refugees for many years and granted them access to health and education.
UNHCR appreciates the hospitality neighbouring countries have shown asylum-seekers for over four decades and is calling on all countries to suspend the forced return of Afghan nationals.
You can help Afghan refugees fleeing the country and internally displaced people by making a donation. Your gift can provide vulnerable families with essentials such as shelter, thermal blankets, stoves and warm clothing to survive the harsh weather conditions in the country.
By road and by air. Throughout the crisis, UNHCR has continued to get humanitarian supplies into the country through the Pakistan border. When needs increased after August 2021, UNHCR opened a new road route in the north from Uzbekistan.
UNHCR is distributing relief items like cooking sets, blankets and hygiene supplies to Afghan families. Our teams are also providing shelter support and cash assistance so the most vulnerable Afghan families can pay for food, medicine and fuel. These supplies can help people to survive but the competing humanitarian needs and funding cuts mean the people of Afghanistan urgently need more help.
Afghanistan Situation Portal – for the latest updates on the situation overall, including UNHCR situation reports, funding requirements and UNHCR’s support for neighbouring countries taking in refugees from Afghanistan.
*Names changed for protection reasons
The majority of funds raised by Aotearoa New Zealand for UNHCR are directed to UNHCR’s emergency operations, providing the ready funds and resources to respond quickly and effectively in situations of crisis and disaster.