Serving the Underserved
UNICEF provides cash support to vulnerable and hard-to-reach communities in Afghanistan, to help them get through another harsh winter
Located some 400 kilometres from Kabul, it can take more than 15 hours to reach Barg-i-Matal in Nuristan province by car from the capital. With a landscape of high, rocky mountains and rivers passing through the valleys, while Nuristan is beautiful, it presents an extremely challenging environment for its inhabitants. The province is one of the hardest areas to reach in Afghanistan.
With temperatures dropping to less than -30 Celsius in winter, it becomes nearly impossible for people to access services. It can take up to four hours or more for a person to walk from home to the nearest market or basic service facility. These challenges are not new; Nuristan was isolated from the rest of the country for decades during the war in Afghanistan. Despite gaining road access, albeit unpaved – access to health, education and other essential services remains a challenge in the province, especially during the winter. With high neonatal and under-five mortality rates, institutional delivery at 8.3 percent against a national average of 66.3 percent, and more than 60 percent of primary school-age children out of school, low access to services leaves children and women vulnerable.1
UNICEF, with support from USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance and UNICEF global thematic funds, is distributing cash to help people purchase household items and everyday essentials to get through the hard Afghan winter. This programme is being implemented in 18 districts across the mountainous provinces of Nuristan, Panjshir and Daikundi, reaching 32,000 families.
“We are expecting snow anytime now, and that will increase our challenges manyfold,” says Zulaykha (35), a resident of Sharqi village in East Barg-i-Matal, and a recipient of UNICEF’s winter cash transfer. Zulaykha is a widow, and does not have any children of her own. Living with her brother and his family, she manages her own expenses. “I am a midwife by training, but since I cannot work anymore, I have very little money to get by on a usual day,” she says.
Nuristan is one of the most under-served provinces in the country, with the highest multidimensional poverty headcount ratio. UNICEF is reaching almost 3,200 households in two locations in Barg-i-Matal district, including Zulaykha’s. Recipient households are identified based on eligibility criteria that include: having a child under two years of age or a pregnant woman in the family; female-headed households; having a child with disability in the family, or a person with disability as head of household. Each family meeting the criteria receives 13,550 Afghani (approximately USD 200), which lasts most recipient families a month or two.
“I am here today to collect the cash support for the upcoming winter,” Zulaykha continues. “This money will last me for about a month and a half, and help me buy some warm clothes and everyday essentials. It adds ease to my life. I can fulfil my needs without having to depend on others.”
Afghanistan lacks a countrywide formal banking system. To fill this gap, financial transactions are carried out through money service providers. UNICEF works with licensed money service providers to systematise the distribution of cash, in close coordination with implementing partners.
Bibi Ayesha (63) is also waiting in line at the cash distribution. Bibi is a mother of nine children, and her husband lives with blindness and a walking disability. “In Nuristan, we grow corn to feed our families and cattle,” she says. “I run the home and everything around it. I not only provide for my own children, but also for my son’s children, as my son is not in good health. This money helps me buy wood, soap, oil, wheat and warm clothes, particularly for my two grandchildren. The funds last for only about two months, but at least we can feed ourselves and be safe from this unbearable cold.”
The winter cash transfer has been implemented by UNICEF every year since 2021. With generous funding from BHA USAID, UNICEF has already reached out to 32,000 households out of the target 39,000 this year. With an estimated 22.9 million Afghans in need of humanitarian support in 2025 – 12.4 million of whom are children – thousands of families are still vulnerable to the winter cold.
1 Afghanistan Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), 2022-2023 | UNICEF Afghanistan
