Livelihood Assessment of 22 Priority UNHCR Sites in Afghanistan

Following more than three decades of war and political upheaval, over 5.5 million Afghan refugees have returned to Afghanistan since 2002. Despite continued efforts to facilitate voluntary repatriation and to support reintegration initiatives in the sub-region, there are still approximately 2.7 Afghan refugees in neighboring Pakistan (1.7 million) and Iran (1 million). The potential return of approximately 400,000 Afghans in 2012 and 2013 has been anticipated As such, there is a pressing need for a more focused attention on stabilizing returnee and internally displaced populations in Afghanistan and securing long-term solutions for the remaining registered Afghan refugees in the countries of asylum. The solutions strategy for the Afghan Situation will include a holistic reintegration strategy; long-term alternate stay arrangements; livelihood opportunities and migration management policies; and investments in host communities. As part of this holistic reintegration strategy this collaboration between UNHCR and the ILO has as objective to undertake a quick livelihood assessment of twenty-two UNHCR priority sites for returnees across Afghanistan. The assessment will provide a picture of economic activities of the returnees and host communities that will inform and guide the designing of pragmatic and effective interventions to enhance the livelihood of the target population under an integrated support programme for the Afghan returnees where several UN agencies, including the ILO, are expected to participate according to their areas of expertise. The assessments will undertake a range of analysis that will include household case studies, local business / IGA mapping, local labour mapping, mobility mapping of the labour and business, mobility mapping of education/training, mapping of available financial services and mapping of available training and business development services. The geographic focus of the assessments will revolve around the 22 reintegration pilot sites of UNHCR priority A & B, including 7 sites in Central and Central Highlands Regions, 1 site in Southern Region, 3 sites in Northern Region, 3 sites in Western Region and 8 sites in Eastern Region (see attached table) as well as selected urban centres providing significant amount of jobs to returnees. All activities will be undertaken in close coordination with UNHCR with the aim of completing the assessments before Ramadan, i.e. before 19 July 2012

Project symbol

AFG/12/01/HCR

Admin unit

CO-Bangkok

Start date

27/05/2012

End date

28/02/2013

Total allocation

329690

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

329690

Development Partners

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Country/Countries

Afghanistan

Outcomes

Employment Promotion