Covid-19

Civil Society and Human Rights Network Purpose: This bi-weekly report describes the updates and challenges related to the government’s relief response program, known as Dastarkhan-e-Meli, and health assistance in combating Covid-19 in Afghanistan. Time Coverage: The report covers all the measures undertaken from January 01 to January 15, 2021, by the government in Afghanistan concerning health and humanitarian assistance during the Covid-19 pandemic. Geographical Coverage: Under this report, the updates from the following sixteen provinces are covered: Kabul, Herat, Kandahar, Paktia, Takhar, Laghman, Balkh, Nimroz, Nangarhar, Bamiyan, Jowzjan, Ghor, Kapisa, Helmand, Khost, and Logar. Situation Overview: The outbreak of Covid-19 has had devastating implications on people’s health and livelihoods across Afghanistan. The economic, social, and health conditions created by the pandemic have further exacerbated the situation to protect vulnerable families, many of whom have already been suffering from low income, social, and health crises due to long-standing conflict over the last several years. According to the World Bank data, Covid-19 pandemic increased the poverty rate from 54.5% to 75% in Afghanistan. Those families, who are dependent on daily wages or remittances from Iran and Pakistan, have especially been affected by the pandemic. To cushion its economic implications, in July 2020, the government of Afghanistan initiated its relief package program (Dastarkhan-e-Meli) to help low-income households across the country who have been heavily affected by the pandemic. Yet, since then, concerns have been mounting over irregularities and misuse of the resources under this program. During the reporting period, CSHRN’s focal points from sixteen mentioned provinces have tracked the aid distribution measures by the local authorities and reported several cases of mismanagement and threats by the Taliban. In addition, during the reporting period, positive tests of Covid-19 have also been on the rise in some provinces, mainly in Kabul. Below is…