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	Syria: Humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate by UN News, ICRC, MSF, agencies   August 2016   Syria: MSF-supported hospital in Idlib bombed to the ground amid increased intensity of attacks.   A hospital supported by MSF was destroyed by an aerial bombing in Millis town, Idlib Governorate, Syria on Saturday 06 August 2016, killing four hospital staff and nine others, including five children and two women.   A busy MSF-supported hospital serving a population of 70,000 people was destroyed by aerial bombing in Millis town, Idlib governorate, Syria on Saturday 6 August. Four hospital staff and nine others – including five children and two women – were killed in the two aerial strikes that hit the hospital directly and the two strikes that hit the immediate vicinity of the hospital at around 2pm local time. Six other hospital staff were wounded. The bombing substantially destroyed the building and the hospital is currently closed. This comes in the midst of an escalation in the intensity of conflict in Idlib governorate.   The bombing destroyed most of the hospital building, including the operating theatre, intensive care unit, paediatric department, and around 80 per cent of the medical devices, the ambulances and the generator. Known as a reference centre specialising in paediatrics, the hospital provided essential care for around 70,000 people living in Millis and the surrounding area, where a considerable number of displaced people had moved to escape frontlines of fighting elsewhere in the north of Syria. The hospital provided emergency care or consultations for around 250 patients per day, many of them women and children. Since early 2014, MSF had supported this hospital with supplies and technical advice, and later with financial support for the hospital staff to enable them to continue their work.   “The direct bombing of another hospital in Syria is an outrage,” says Dr Silvia Dallatomasina, medical manager of MSF operations in northwestern Syria. “We have to admire the courage and dedication of Syrian medics continuing to work in the midst of a war where hospitals are so regularly hit in bombing and shelling attacks, and we have a strong sense of obligation to support them in their essential life-saving work.   Each time a hospital is destroyed, whether it is targeted or in an indiscriminate attack on civilian areas, it deprives Syrians of another lifeline of healthcare. Some hospitals provide frontline care for war-wounded, others provide frontline care for women having difficult pregnancies; all of them are needed to save lives.”   This attack comes in an environment of renewing intensity of significant mass casualty events in Idlib governorate. In the first six months of 2016, the two largest MSF-supported reference hospitals in Idlib governorate reported seven mass-influxes of wounded, resulting in 294 wounded and 33 dead. In the month of July alone, the same facilities dealt with nine mass-influxes of wounded, resulting in 466 wounded and 37 dead.   “We repeat our urgent call to all those with influence on the conduct of the war in Syria, including the four out of five permanent members of the UN Security Council that are participants in the war, to urgently affect change to stop hospitals being hit in the course of the fighting,” says Dallatomasina. “As humanitarian medics, we will continue to do all we can to boost medical care in Syria, but we need to see an immediate end to attacks on hospitals.” http://www.msf.org/en/news   May 2016 (UN News)   Syria: first 10 days of May ‘disappointing’ for humanitarian work – UN advisor   The first 10 days of May have been “disappointing” for aid work in Syria as the breakdown of a truce made aid deliveries dangerous and difficult to plan, the United Nations-appointed humanitarian adviser said as aid agencies announced that Syrian authorities had turned away a convoy to the long-besieged town of Daraya.   “The breakdown of the cessation of hostilities was a catastrophe for humanitarian work,” Jan Egeland, Special Advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, told reporters in Geneva, where the intra-Syrian talks, comprising political and humanitarian task forces, had been under way.   Mr. Egeland said that March had been a good month that had seen “very few people displaced and very few relief workers attacked and bombed.” April, however, had been “terrible,” with colleagues killed in many places and medical workers hardest-hit. Of late, the situation has varied from place to place, changing constantly. “It is very, very difficult for us to plan anything for the coming days,” he said.   Humanitarian convoys have permissions to reach only less than half of the 905,000 people they hoped to serve this month. There has not been a greenlight to go to all of the locations in Aleppo, where people are bleeding and are in great need.   The good news is that today, the first humanitarian assessment mission on its way to Daraya, which is probably the place in Syria where the greatest unmet needs exist, he said.   Similar assessment missions or assistance missions are planned in the coming days to all of the remaining besieged areas yet to be reached, including Duma, Erbin, Zamalka and Zabadin, “In the next 10-day period, all of these could be covered,” he said.   However, later in the day, the UN announced that the joint aid convoy of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and the UN was refused entry to Daraya, at the last Government checkpoint despite having obtained prior clearance by all parties that it could proceed.   “Daraya has been the site of relentless fighting for more than three and a half years, and we know the situation there is desperate,” said Yacoub El Hillo, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria.   “Civilians trapped here are in need of humanitarian aid. We were hoping that today’s delivery of life saving assistance would have been a first step and lead to more aid being allowed in. The UN continues to call for all parties to lift sieges on civilians in Syria," he underscored.   The convoy was due to provide essential medical supplies to the town’s health facility, distribute nutrition items for children and lead a vaccination campaign for children under 12, as well as distribute hygiene materials. This would have been the first ever joint convoy aid delivery to the town, which has been under siege since November 2012.   “Communities in Daraya are in need of everything, and it’s tragic that even the basics we were bringing today are being delayed unnecessarily. We must be able to provide aid impartially and safely,” said Marianne Gasser, Head of the ICRC in Syria.   “There must be minimum conditions for independent humanitarian action in Syria. Today those conditions were not met. We urge the responsible parties to grant us this access immediately,” she added.   Mar. 2016   Time to put an immediate halt to all the fighting, by Lakhdar Brahimi. (The Elders)   As the violence engulfing Syria continues, veteran mediator and former UN Special Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi calls on all parties to end the violence, prioritise the needs of the Syrian people and for European governments to agree a coordinated response to the refugee crisis.   "It is imperative that the world puts the needs of the Syrian people first."   With the 5th anniversary of the Syrian civil war fast approaching, and another round of peace talks delayed, it is imperative that the world puts the needs of the Syrian people first.   It’s time to put an immediate halt to all fighting. Far too many lives have already been lost or destroyed, and the very existence of Syria as a state is under threat. Those responsible for the fighting should realise that that route will lead nowhere. If the latest peace talks convened by the UN Special Envoy are to have any chance of making progress, all those capable of improving conditions on the ground must act now.   A determined and sustained effort to attain peace is the only way to protect the people of Syria and the entire region. All parties to the conflict and those supporting them must work with the Special Envoy as he seeks to secure a peaceful and lasting resolution of the conflict.   Comprehensive talks with all parties at the table are the only effective route to building a lasting peace. I discussed this earlier this month at the Youth & Leaders Summit held at Sciences Po in Paris, along with fellow Elder Martti Ahtisaari. The key to successful peace talks is mediation which facilitates the needs of all involved parties and organisations. Success in the talks is in the best interests of common humanity.   There are, at least, renewed international efforts to return peace and dignity to the people of Syria. The recent Syria Donors Conference in London saw an encouraging level of ambition needed to address the funding shortage and the humanitarian needs of those affected by the conflict.   The substantial financial pledges made and the broad commitment to ensure children’s education and help create jobs for Syrian refugees living in the region were welcome expressions of international solidarity.   But, as the recent excellent report by the High Level Panel on humanitarian funding makes clear, there is an alarming, persistent gap between the amount of money pledged to tackle humanitarian crises and the actual amount delivered. The Donors Conference and the commitments made have the ability to address the financing chasm that exists today. At the same time, we all know that only an immediate end to the conflict and an agreed political solution will staunch the bleeding.   Concurrently with securing peace in the region, a coordinated response to the growing refugee crisis is well overdue. Neighbouring countries have stepped up to shoulder the burden. One village in Lebanon has agreed to rehouse 20,000 refugees; this exceeds the quota agreed by major European countries.   One hopes that member states of the European Union will soon agree on a coherent and comprehensive refugee policy that shares the burden fairly between them and protects refugees from economic and all other forms of humiliation and exploitation. The human rights of refugees and migrants must be respected and governments must take the lead in ensuring their protection. We are seeing some in Europe worryingly pushing their countries in the opposite direction, approving laws that strip refugees of their dignity and continue their dehumanisation.   http://theelders.org/article/syria-time-put-immediate-halt-all-fighting   Mar. 2016   More than 100 humanitarian agencies call for immediate and sustained access in Syria. (WFP, agencies)   One hundred and two humanitarian agencies today urged sustained and unconditional humanitarian access to all Syrians. The appeal was made on the fifth anniversary of the start of the conflict in Syria.   As the parties to the conflict in Syria resume talks to end a war that now enters its sixth horrific year, there is renewed hope for peace. For an end to the suffering of millions of the innocent.   Two months ago our organizations appealed for urgent access to all those in desperate need inside Syria: for the lifting of sieges; for the full protection of civilians. Today, there are some encouraging signs of progress. The cessation of hostilities has allowed humanitarian organizations to rush more food and other relief to communities desperate for help.   But access has to go beyond a temporary lifting of seiges and checkpoints and allowing more aid convoys to move.   Humanitarian access and freedom of movement of civilians in Syria has to be sustained. It has to be unconditional. And it should include access to all people in need by whatever routes necessary.   The parties to this conflict and their international sponsors must from now on guarantee:   Full access for humanitarian and medical workers to assess the wellbeing of civilians in all communities and treat those who are sick and injured without obstacle or restriction.   Allowing all humanitarian aid, as required by international humanitarian law, to reach, unimpeded, those who urgently need it – including medical supplies, surgical equipment, and nutritional necessities.   Support for an urgently needed nationwide immunization campaign for children.   These are practical actions that would mean the difference between life and death. All parties to the conflict can agree on them, now.   And in doing so, they can take another step to peace. Peace for Syria. The peace that Syrians so desperately deserve.   http://www.wfp.org/news/news-release/more-100-humanitarian-agencies-call-immediate-and-sustained-access-syria   Feb. 2016   The United Nations emergency relief chief has called on the Syrian Government and other parties to honour their duty to protect civilians and allow safe access for aid as tens of thousands of people were reported to have been displaced from Aleppo and elsewhere in the war-torn country''s north by heavy Government bombardment.   “I am gravely concerned by reports that over 30,000 civilians have been displaced from Aleppo City and other areas in northern Syria over the past week by heavy clashes and aerial bombardment by the Government of Syria, allied forces and armed groups,” UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O''Brien statement.   “About 80 per cent of them are estimated to be women and children. We have reports that civilians have been killed and injured, and that civilian infrastructure, including at least two hospitals, has been hit,” he noted.   He also voiced extreme concern for people in other parts of the country, including in Dar''a governorate in the south, where intensified fighting has displaced thousands of people, killing or injuring civilians.   “I urge the Government and other parties to this conflict to hold to their obligations under international human rights and international humanitarian law to protect all civilians in Syria and allow neutral, impartial humanitarian organizations safe and unconditional access to all people in need, whoever and wherever they are,” Mr. O''Brien said.   “I call on the warring parties to immediately halt all actions that might result in civilian loss of life and damage, to permit civilians to move to safer areas and to refrain from targeting medical and other civilian infrastructure”.   The U.N. estimates there are at least 500,000 people living under siege in Syria, out of a total 4.6 million who are hard to reach with aid.   http://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/situation-aleppo-and-other-parts-syria-grotesque-enar http://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/30-years-needed-clear-syria-explosive-remnants-war http://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/cost-conflict-children-five-years-syria-crisis-march-2016 http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.7998857/k.D075/Syria.htm http://www.msf.org/article/syria-civilians-under-relentless-attack http://panorama.wfp.org/iamsyrian   Jan. 2016   Madaya: Aid finally reaches starving Syrian town under siege for seven months.   An aid convoy has finally reached the Syrian town of Madaya where at least 28 residents are believed to have starved to death in the past month.   The joint United Nations and International Red Cross convoy carried food and medical supplies to the town of up to 40,000 which has been under siege for the past seven months by Syrian government forces and Hezbollah militants.   People on the streets of Madaya cried out with relief as the first trucks of aid crossed into the town late on Monday, news agency Reuters reported.   There was worldwide outrage last week after photos and video taken by medical staff in the town showed emaciated babies and children who said they had not eaten properly for weeks.   Ali Issa, a father of eight, said they had run out of everything, even money to buy what little food could be smuggled through at exorbitant prices.   The ICRC hailed the first deliveries, with its head of the Syria delegation, Marianne Gasser, describing the operation as "a positive development".   "But it must not be just a one-off distribution. To relieve the suffering of these tens of thousands of people, there has to be regular access to these areas," she said.   Speaking from inside Madaya, Pawel Krzysiek from the ICRC told reporters that people greeted the convoy with joy but also anger that the aid had taken so long to arrive.   Mr Krzysiek described the people as looking pale, weak and tired. "It''s certain that there was not enough food here for a very, very long time," he said.   The UN''s World Food Programme is providing the food, milk for children, while the ICRC is supplying medicine enough to last three months, medical equipment and blankets.   The operation to organise the supplies with help from the Red Crescent got underway after Assad''s regime gave permission for the deliveries on Thursday.   Last week, the UN said only 10 per cent of its requested aid deliveries to hard-to-reach and besieged areas of Syria last year were approved and carried out.   Jan 2016 (UN News)   Calling state of besieged Syrian towns ‘horrendous,’ UN demands humanitarian access.   As the United Nations and its partners struggled to gain humanitarian access to the Government-beseiged Syrian city of Madaya, amid reports of people starving to death or being killed while trying to leave, UN officials called the situation “horrendous, ghastly,” and a potential war crime.   They also voiced concern at the “very alarming situation” in two nearby Shiite villages besieged by opposition forces for many months in a country where five years of fighting have killed over 250,000 people, including tens of thousands of children, displaced more than half the population of 17 million, and left 4.5 million people in hard-to-reach areas, 400,000 of them under siege.   The UN has raised the alarm over Madaya, where almost 42,000 people are at risk of starvation.   “The situation in Madaya is ghastly,” Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesperson Rupert Colville told a news briefing in Geneva, noting that Government forces were preventing aid getting into Madaya while opposition forces prevented access to the two nearby villages, making both sides culpable.   Deliberate starvation of civilians amounts to war crimes under the international human rights law and international humanitarian law, he stressed.   UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson Christophe Boulierac, whose agency is also involved in planning the convoy, said half the 42,000 people in the town were children in need of urgent life-saving assistance.   Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has reported that six of 23 persons who starved to death in Madaya in December were children, Christophe Boulierac voiced great concern at the devastating humanitarian situation, particularly the lack of food for children and of basic supplies amid a harsh winter.   The tragic situation of children in Madaya was an example of the dire situation of the 4.5 million people, over two million of them children, living in hard-to-reach and besieged areas, he said.   Yesterday UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria Yacoub El Hillo and Regional Humanitarian Coordinator Kevin Kennedy issued a joint statement calling for unimpeded access to people in hard-to-reach and besieged areas, with only 10 per cent of all requests for UN inter-agency convoys to these areas approved and delivered in the past year.   http://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/starvation-weapon-war-crime-un-chief-warns-parties-conflict-syria   Blockades have been a common feature of the nearly five-year-old civil war that has killed over 250,000 people, with government forces besieging rebel-held areas and rebel groups blockading loyalist areas.   Siege warfare has been used in Syria "in a ruthlessly coordinated and planned manner" with the aim of "forcing a population, collectively, to surrender or suffer starvation," a U.N. commission of inquiry has said.   December 2015 (ICRC)   The Director for the Near and Middle East at the International Committee of the Red Cross has warned of a deteriorating humanitarian situation in Syria as winter approaches.   Hundreds of thousands of people are trying to survive with the most basic resources as temperatures fall below freezing. Nearly five years of conflict have left much of the country''s infrastructure destroyed or severely damaged.   "The humanitarian situation in Syria is catastrophic and deteriorating day by day. The people are facing a bitter winter ahead and they have very few resources. We need better access so that aid can be brought to the most vulnerable. The situation is nothing short of critical for many, many people," said Mr Mardini.   More than 12 million Syrians, including 5½ million children, are in need of immediate humanitarian assistance. More than 4 million people have fled abroad and around 8 million are displaced within the country; many have been forced to move several times.   "Many of the refugees in neighbouring countries such as Jordan and Lebanon live in terrible conditions and are struggling to find warmth as temperatures fall. And they live with the uncertainty of not knowing what tomorrow will bring or even if they will ever make it back home one day," said Mr Mardini.   In Syria, The ICRC has been carrying out a number of activities to try to alleviate the situation. It has started distributing winter clothes for 300,000 children between the ages of six months and nine years old. Work has been done to improve the living conditions of dozens of collective-shelters and other places where displaced people are being hosted.   Since the beginning of the year, the ICRC together with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent provided food to over 7 million people. 15 millions benefited from water programs across the country.   http://reliefweb.int/report/world/middle-east-and-north-africa-crises-focus-overview-humanitarian-needs-region-enar http://www.ifrc.org/what-we-do/disaster-management/responding/ongoing-operations/syria-crisis/   Dec. 2015 (OCHA)   Hospitals, markets and bakeries have been hit, scores of civilians are killed and injured almost daily, and doctors themselves have become targets in escalating fighting and airstrikes in Syria, reportedly by the Government and its allies, a senior United Nations relief official reported today, voicing outrage.   UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Kyung-wha Kang described a litany of the ongoing attacks against civilians.   Also briefing was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, who said the rate at which Syrians were fleeing the country "shows how unbearable things have become.”   “This loss of innocent lives and wanton indiscriminate destruction of populated areas is an outrage, and those responsible must be held accountable,” said Ms. Kang, referring specifically to Idlib in the north of the country, where six airstrikes hit a busy market place, several public buildings and residential areas yesterday, killing 43 people.   The escalation of attacks in the north of the country, reportedly by Syrian and allied forces, is such that doctors working to save injured civilians “fear that the Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems are no longer the shield of protection that they must be,” she added.   “Since the start of this crisis (nearly five years ago), Physicians for Human Rights have documented 336 attacks on at least 240 medical facilities and the death of 697 medical personnel. These attacks are flagrant violations of international humanitarian law and an affront to the core of our shared humanity that must be guarded – caring for the wounded and the sick,” she said.   “I plead with the parties to the conflict to ensure the protection of health facilities, workers and patients under international humanitarian law. Similarly the removal of surgical supplies and trauma kits from convoys by the Syrian Government must end,” she underscored.   “For nearly five years, we have watched as Syria sank deeper and deeper into violence and brutality. And yet, no words can do justice to the despair and devastation that millions of Syrians experience every day,” Ms. Kang said, recalling UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien’s visit to the country earlier this month.   During his mission, he visited the Al-Waer neighbourhood of Homs city where a ceasefire has allowed the humanitarian community to deliver aid to all 60,000 people there for the first time in 11 months.   “We reiterate that humanitarian access should be unhindered and sustained at all times, and not be made conditional on negotiated agreements,” Ms. Kang said, stressing that 4.5 million people live in hard-to-reach areas, with over 400,000 of them besieged.   From September to November due to access restrictions and insecurity, the UN and its partners accessed only 32 per cent of the hard-to-reach locations, only around one per cent of the besieged population received food aid, and less than one per cent health care. “This is simply unacceptable. We once again call upon the Syrian authorities to approve the 47 pending inter-agency convoy requests and allow convoys previously agreed in principle to proceed,” Ms. Kang said. “I also call on non-State armed groups, as well as listed terrorist groups, to allow the deliveries they are preventing from proceeding.”   She noted that despite extremely challenging circumstances, humanitarian partners continue to reach millions of people every month with life-saving assistance, but much more is needed, with the Humanitarian Response Plan for 2016 seeking to provide life-saving aid to the 13.5 million people in need inside the country. Some four million others have fled to refugee camps in neighbouring countries or to Europe. Visit the related web page
	Afghanistan: Number of people internally displaced by conflict doubled to 1.2 million in three years by UN News, OCHA, Amnesty International, agencies   2017 Afghanistan Humanitarian Needs Overview: Report from UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs   Afghanistan remains one of the most dangerous, and most violent, crisis ridden countries in the world. The continued deepening and geographic spread of the conflict has prompted a 13% increase in the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance in 2017, now 9.3 million. Violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Human Rights Law (HRL) occur regularly - including, targeted killings, forced recruitment and attacks on health and education facilities. The 8,397 civilian casualties in the first nine months of 2016 is the highest recorded, and included a 15% increase in child casualties compared to 2015. In 2016 increasingly frequent ground engagements continued to be the main cause of civilian casualties, while also limiting freedom of movement for civilians and contaminating areas with explosive remnants of war (ERW) which disproportionally affect children. Health partners reported 57,346 weapon wounded cases between January and September alone, compared to 19,749 in 2011, representing almost a three-fold increase.   The country is facing increasing numbers of people on the move. In 2016 the conflict has led to unprecedented levels of displacement, reaching half a million in November - the highest number recorded to date. 56% of the displaced are children and face particular risk of abuse, and exploitation, as well as interrupted school attendance and harmful child labour. Multiple forms of GBV, particularly early and forced marriage, domestic, psychological, and sexual abuse are reported, affecting individuals in hosting and displaced communities alike. Further, a lack, or loss of civil documentation, with difficulties in obtaining documents outside of the province of origin, regularly results in hindered access to services for considerable numbers of affected individuals.   Recent estimates suggest over 9 million people have limited or no access to essential health services. Rates of infant and maternal mortality remain among the highest in the world at 73/1000 live births and 327/100,000 live births respectively with reports of maternal mortality ratio (MMR) rates as high as 417/100,000 in rural parts of the country. Severe food insecurity is on the rise with 1.6 million people severely food insecure. 2016 nutrition surveys show global acute malnutrition (GAM) prevalence ranging from 10.9 to 20.7%. Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) has breached emergency thresholds in 20 of 34 provinces. 1.8 million people require treatment for acute malnutrition, of which 1.3 million are children under five.   Magnifying this crisis of forced displacement, 2016 saw the unprecedented return of some 600,000 registered refugees and undocumented Afghans from Pakistan. For the majority, return is triggered by shrinking asylum space and community acceptance, and the experience often abrupt and distressing. After more than 30 years living in Pakistan, many have arrived into an unfamiliar country with few possessions, assets or social support networks.   http://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/2017-afghanistan-humanitarian-needs-overview   July 2016 (UN News)   Afghan civilian casualties hit half-year record, with 5,166 dead or maimed   In the first six months of this year, 5,166 civilians were either killed or maimed in Afghanistan, a half-year record since counting began in 2009, a United Nations report published today shows.   Between January and June this year, the human rights team of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented 1,601 civilian deaths and 3,565 injured civilians, an increase of four per cent in the total number of casualties compared to the first six months of 2015, according to the report, titled ''Afghanistan Midyear Report 2016; Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict.''   The total civilian casualty figure recorded by the UN since 1 January 2009 through 30 June 2016 has risen to 63,934, including 22,941 deaths and 40,993 injured.   “The testimony of victims and their families brings into agonizing focus the tragedy of each one of the 63,934 people killed or maimed by this protracted conflict since 2009,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra''ad Al Hussein in a press release.   This year''s casualties include 1,509 children, 388 dead and 1,121 injured, a figure Mr. Zeid described as “alarming and shameful,” particularly as it represents the highest numbers of children killed or wounded in a six-month period since counting began in 2009.   There were also 507 women casualties, 130 killed and 377 injured.   The figures are conservative – almost certainly underestimated – given the strict methodology employed in their documentation and in determining the civilian status of those affected.   In the press release, Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Secretary-General''s Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA, stressed that the report must serve as a call to action by parties to the conflict “to do all they can to spare civilians from the horrors of war.”   “Every single casualty documented in this report – people killed while praying, working, studying, fetching water, recovering in hospitals.. represents a failure of commitment and should be a call to action for parties to the conflict to take meaningful, concrete steps to reduce civilians suffering and increase protection,” Yamamoto said.   “Platitudes not backed by meaningful action ring hollow over time. History and the collective memory of the Afghan people will judge leaders of all parties to this conflict by their actual conduct,” he added.   http://bit.ly/2aqLUoj http://bit.ly/2chXMro http://viewfind.com/story/paula-bronstein-on-afghanistans-war-wounded   June 2016   Afghanistan: Number of people internally displaced by conflict doubled to 1.2 million in three years   The number of Afghans who have fled violence and remained trapped in their own country – where they live on the brink of survival – has dramatically doubled over the past three years, a new report by Amnesty International highlights.   A staggering 1.2 million people are internally displaced in Afghanistan today, a dramatic increase from some 500,000 in 2013. Afghans already form one of the world’s largest refugee populations, with an estimated 2.6 million Afghan citizens living beyond the country’s border.   Amnesty International’s new report, ‘My Children Will Die This Winter’: Afghanistan’s Broken Promise to the Displaced, casts fresh light on the country’s forgotten victims of war who have fled their homes but remain displaced within the country’s borders.   “While the world’s attention seems to have moved on from Afghanistan, we risk forgetting the plight of those left behind by the conflict,” said Champa Patel, South Asia Director at Amnesty International.   “Even after fleeing their homes to seek safety, increasing numbers of Afghans are languishing in appalling conditions in their own country, and fighting for their survival with no end in sight.”   Amnesty International’s research found that despite the promises made by successive Afghan governments, internally displaced people (IDPs) in Afghanistan continue to lack adequate shelter, food, water, health care, and opportunities to pursue education and employment.   “Even an animal would not live in this hut, but we have to,” Mastan, a 50-year-old woman living in a camp in Herat, told Amnesty International. “I would prefer to be in prison rather than in this place, at least in prison I would not have to worry about food and shelter.”   Their situation has dramatically worsened over the past years, with less aid and essentials like food available. A new National IDP Policy launched in 2014 could be a lifeline to those displaced but has hardly been implemented at all – stymied by alleged corruption, lack of capacity in the Afghan government and fading international interest.   Despite Afghan authorities promising to improve the conditions IDPs are living in, Amnesty International found that forced evictions – from both government and private actors – is a daily threat.   A life on the brink of survival   Most IDP communities lack access to basic health care facilities. With only mobile clinics, operated by NGOs or the government, occasionally available, IDPs are often forced to seek private health care that they cannot afford.   “If we are ill, then I have to beg and find some money to go to the private clinics,” one 50-year-old woman in Herat told Amnesty International. “We have no other choice.”   As people without any stable source of income, IDPs can find themselves burdened with large amounts of debt. In one case, a father told Amnesty International that he had to borrow 20,000 Afs (US$292) to pay for an operation for his son. “This is an enormous sum of money for us,” the father said.   Despite the assertion that IDPs have a right to request and receive food, water and adequate clothing in the 2014 policy and their obligations under international law, the Afghan government has failed to provide reliable accessibility to basic living necessities. People are forced to make long, daily trips to gather water and struggle to find one daily meal.   “Food is a luxury here, no one can afford it,” Raz Muhammad, a community leader in Kabul’s Chaman-e-Barbak camp said. “We mostly live off bread or spoiled vegetables from the market. The last time we received food assistance was ahead of last winter when we got three sacks of wheat.”   Since being forced to leave their homes, IDP children’s education has been interrupted and adults have been reduced to chronic unemployment.   “Internally displaced persons should not suffer discrimination of any kind,” said Champa Patel. “They should be provided with the same access to education and employment opportunities that other Afghans are.”   The IDP policy states that no displaced child should be denied an education even if they can’t afford essentials like school books, uniforms and other educational supplies.   In practice, however, the financial burdens borne by IDPs have meant that children often work to support their families, such as by washing cars, polishing shoes for money, and collecting plastic bags to resell.   “The financial burdens on displaced families are compounded,” said Champa Patel. “They have lost the traditional sources of their livelihoods, and only have few opportunities for informal work, creating circumstances where women are excluded, and children are being exploited and not educated.”   The UN has asked for US$ 393 in humanitarian funding for Afghanistan in 2016 –the smallest figure in years despite the dire humanitarian situation. By May, less than a quarter had been funded.   Amnesty International is calling on the Afghan authorities and the international community to immediately ensure that the most urgent needs of those displaced are met. Furthermore, the Afghan government must make the implementation of the IDP Policy a priority, and ensure that enough resources are dedicate across the government to making it a reality.   Key international actors in Afghanistan must also do more to ensure that the human rights of those displaced are met, and lend more weight, expertise and resources to the implementation of the IDP Policy.   “All parties that have been involved in Afghanistan over the past 15 years have a responsibility to come together and make sure that the very people the international community set out to help are not abandoned to an even more precarious fate,” said Champa Patel.   “Afghanistan and the world must act now to end the country’s displacement crisis, before it is too late.”   http://bit.ly/1U9s4dk http://bit.ly/2j3digo http://bit.ly/2jgiY4g Visit the related web page
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