Afghanistan
A large number of actions in an unstable context
© J-P. Porcher/Handicap International |
Handicap International has been working in Afghanistan since the 1980s. The conditions in which we operate are difficult, despite the fall of the Taliban, and the situation in the country remains highly unstable.
The events of 2001 prompted Handicap International to increase our presence in the country, while looking at the possibility of organising activities to complement those already underway in the South.
We are working in four key areas: rehabilitation, social inclusion of people with disabilities through professional training and inclusive activities, mine risk education and advocacy and awareness raising on disability.
Key Facts - Afghanistan
• Population: 29.1 million
• Household Consumption: $888 per year
• Life Expectancy: 45 years
• Human Development: ranked 155th out of 169 countries
Source: UNDP HDR 2011
"Let’s work for peace"“My name is Soraj Ghulam Habib. I live in the Herat province in Afghanistan. I was born during the war and I grew up in a country facing a crisis, in a climate of violence and conflict. I started school at 8 years old and I dreamt of one day being able to work and help my family and society in general.
Hamid dreams of becoming a doctorThe Afghan people have been living with the daily threat of cluster munitions for more than 30 years. These weapons, first used during the Soviet invasion at the beginning of the 1980s, have also been widely used during the civil war, and more recently during American offensive in 2001.
Disability workshop in KabulThe Handicap International team in Kabul organised a three-day workshop for twenty volunteers, coordinated by the project manager, Dr Amini.
Our projects
 | 40,000 Afghans surveyed about disabilities
In September 2004 a national disabilities survey was launched throughout the country. Over 40,000 people spread out over Afghanistan’s thirty-four provinces, were surveyed. |
| Capacity building of an Afghan NGO
This project operates in Kabul City and provides staff training for an Afghan NGO that works to improve the economic participation of people with disabilities in Kabul and enables them to access training and work placements. |
| Disability, advocacy and awareness
Handicap International conducts public awareness campaigns through the media, training, events, newsletters and the provision of learning materials and photo exhibitions.
In addition, Handicap International has been active in lobbying government and has actively participated in drafting national law and strategies related to disability. |
| Support to physiotherapy professionals
Based in Kabul at the Physical Therapy Institute (PTI), this project supports physiotherapists in Herat, Kandahar and Kabul. The objective is to build the capacity of institutions and physiotherapy service providers in Afghanistan and to ensure the recognition, continuity and appropriate level of physiotherapy services in the country. |
 | Community-based mine risk education
This project operates in 10 districts in Kandahar and eight districts in Helmand province. It aims to strengthen the capacities of vulnerable affected communities and reduce the threat of landmines and explosive remnants of war, through mine risk education sessions. |
 | Improving and developing physical rehabilitation services
In Kandahar in Southern Afghanistan, Handicap International runs a rehabilitation centre providing physiotherapy and a workshop producing prostheses for people disabilities. We also provide technical and material aid to a project in Western Afghanistan to improve and develop physical rehabilitation services. In partnership with Handicap International, the Marseille NGO Humaniterra built a treatment centre for victims of third-degree burns in Herat.
The project also works at national level to improve recognition of rehabilitation professions and to encourage the development of NGOs and local organisations wokring on disability. Finally, Handicap International is taking part in the development of a physiotherapy training syllabus at Kabul University. |
| Physical rehabilitation centre, Kandahar
This centre provides functional rehabilitation and orthopaedic services for persons with disabilities from all four Southern Provinces - Zabul, Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan, including returnees and Internally Displaced Persons from Zhare Dasht Camp in Kandahar province. |
| Herat community rehabilitation project
The objective of this project is to improve access to and the quality of physical rehabilitation services for people with disabilities within health centres in the Herat province. Activities include providing physiotherapy services, identifying and referring people in need of rehabilitation, training clinic staff in disability recognition, and developing closer links with other community-based projects to improve rehabilitation accessibility. |
| Rehabilitation at Herat hospital
To increase access to physical rehabilitation services and improve their quality as part of core hospital services in the Western province. The project offers physiotherapy services in coordination with the four areas in Herat hospital (internal medicine, paediatrics, orthopaedics and burns) through a referral and follow-up system. |
 | Herat inclusion project
This project works in seven districts of Herat Province. The aim is to improve attitudes towards people with disabilities and reinforce their social, educative and professional integration through a community-based rehabilitation strategy, with community leaders, stakeholders and main services providers. The project works to ensure that people with disabilities are supported in their employment, training and educational activities, thereby improving the economic situation of their families and their communities. |
| Kabul inclusion project (Completed March 2010)
This project works in three districts around Kabul city to improve attitudes towards people with disabilities and reinforce their social, educative and professional integration through a community-based rehabilitation strategy, with community leaders, stakeholders and service providers. |
