Afghanistan: EU reinforces basic needs support to the Afghan people with a new €142.8 million package

The European Commission adopted a new funding package worth €142.8 million to strengthen basic services and sustain livelihoods for Afghans, with a focus on vulnerable populations including displaced or displacement-affected people.

Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, said: “The EU’s commitment to stand by the Afghan people remains unwavering. To address their growing basic needs, the EU has mobilised a new support measure. This €142.8 million package will focus on health, nutrition, education, clean water and sanitation, in particular for women, girls, displaced populations and those affected by displacement. We are also supporting their livelihoods, paying special attention to women’s economic empowerment. The Afghan people deserve a future where they can thrive, and the EU continues to support them.”

This new basic needs assistance will be provided through the established principled approach, safeguarding the EU’s specific attention to women and girls.

The assistance is part of the €1.2 billion package mobilised to date since the Commission President von der Leyen’s pledge in August 2021 to allocate at least €1 billion in support of the Afghan people. With the adoption of this new package, the EU has mobilised a total of €676 million, complementing €554 million in humanitarian assistance.

Basic services

The EU’s new support will strengthen basic services such as health, nutrition and education, on the condition that Afghan women are involved in all aspects of the aid delivery chain, and that women and girls are not excluded from benefiting from the assistance. For education, the EU may provide basic needs support, such as school meals and other incentives to keep girls and boys in schools, teacher training and support, or the provision of classroom equipment. Support in health may include strengthening drug abuse prevention and treatment, considering high prevalence of drug abuse, as well as psychological health services, given that 35-40% of the Afghan population suffers from some kind of mental health issue after decades of conflict, violence and poverty. Nutrition, but also water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) support will be incorporated into health and education services.

Livelihoods

This support will help address widespread poverty by providing community-based safety nets, improving access to income generating and business support services at the community level, and enhancing value chain effectiveness, market access and access to finance at the microlevel. Women’s economic empowerment will be at the centre of the EU’s support, considering the potential of Afghan women civil society and the importance of safeguarding women’s meaningful participation in the economy and society.

Background

Despite suspended development cooperation, the EU continues to support the Afghan population by addressing their basic needs and livelihoods. This assistance is complementary to humanitarian aid to provide the people with some medium-term perspective and create a set of stabilising factors. The EU’s assistance to the Afghan population is provided according to the principled approach which ensures that women remain beneficiaries of aid and that they are meaningfully involved in the delivery, as reaffirmed in the March 2023 Council Conclusions. EU assistance is under no circumstances channelled through or benefiting the de facto authorities, all aid is implemented by UN agencies and Non-Governmental Organisations.