Humanitarian Overview - Bamyan Province
OCHA Contact: Ishaq Ali Ramazani
January 2014
http://afg.humanitarianresponse.info/
Context: Bamyan is one of the poorest, underdeveloped and least agriculturally productive provinces. Difficult terrain, poor infrastructure
and extreme long winters are other factors contributing to vulnerabilities of the people.
Key Messages
Lack of basic public services, high propensity to natural hazards and underdevelopment are the major causes of humanitarian
vulnerabilities. Humanitarian needs are compounded by prevalent chronic poverty that could be addressed by sustainable development
projects to mitigate the impact of recurrent shocks. However, as a mid-term priority intervention, DRR projects should be aligned with a
longer-term resilience strategy, particularly related to food security, health and WASH sectors, in order to strengthen people coping
strategies.
People in Needi
Population (CSO 2012)
Humanitarian Organizations Present with Current Operationsii
 13,975 natural
 Total – 432,700
 Male: 50.7% Female: 49.3%
 Urban: 2.8% Rural:97.2%
 UN: UNICEF, UNHCR, IOM, UNOPS, WHO, UNAMA, FAO, UNEP, UNDP, UNDSS,
UNHAS
 INGOs: AKDN, Save the Children, Action Aid, CRS, Solidarités Int, Helvetas, MEDAIR,
Solidarités Belgium. Islamic Relief, ADRA, IMC,
 NNGOs: CoAR, RSDO, AADA, CCA, NPO/RRAA, Shuhada, AREA, OHW, JCSSO,
 ICRC and ARCS
disaster-affected
people registered
in 2011-2013iii.
Humanitarian Coordination Structure:
Provincial Disaster Management Committee (PDMC) is led by the Governor with ANDMA support as the secretariat. An Operational
Coordination Team (OCT) includes humanitarian and development partners and is a well established coordination forum supported by
OCHA. Protection and NFIs/ES clusters are activated and lead by UNHCR and IOM, respectively. Most of the partners focus on
development projects, but have operational capacity for humanitarian response.
Humanitarian Access (Issues/Constraints):
Difficult terrain, poor infrastructure, prolonged extreme weather conditions hinder humanitarian access and adversely affect timely and
efficient humanitarian response, in some cases, making it impossible. Infiltration of armed opposition groups hampers humanitarian access
to Kahmard, Shiber and Saighan districts.
Disease Outbreaks as reported by DEWS:
Yakawlang and Waras districts are prone to ARI/pneumonia, brucellosis, cholera, and chicken pox.
Humanitarian Needs by Sector/Cluster iv
Food Security and Agriculture: Food insecurity in the province becomes acute during winter and spring lean
seasons. 171,678 people (40.5 % of the population) are food insecure and 43,617 people (10.3 %) are very
severely food insecure. According to IPC, Bamyan province may shift in 2014 from Phase 3 (crisis) to phase 4
(emergency) due to the drought expansion, inadequate food availability and poor access to the markets. The
projected population in phase 3 and phase 4 is respectively 135,868 people (31.4% of the population) and
61,876 people (14.3%). The annual food deficit in Bamyan stands between 25,000-50,000 MT; wheat deficit
stands at 44,800 MTv. 40-60% of the population suffer from Kcal intake deficit; 20-30% of the population have
poor food consumption score. In 2013, dryness affected population in Yakawlang and Waras districts.
Health: Health needs and vulnerabilities of Bamyan are ranked high due to poor performance and coverage of
public health system, compounded by scattered population, harsh terrain, extreme weather and recurrent natural
disasters. 210,000 people are in need of healthcare with 20% of the population having limited or no access to
health services. 543 cases per 1,000 children Under 5 of Diarrhea Diseases and six Measles outbreaks were
recorded from April 2012 to June 2013.Vaccine coverage is 71%.
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: Vulnerabilities associated with access to water pointsvi and safe drinking
watervii is ranked high, and water related diseases index is ranked mediumviii. According to Socio-Demographic
and Economic Survey, 35 percent of households in the province receive drinking water from unprotected springs
and 33 percent of the population from surface water.
Protection: Bamyan is ranked very low largely due to the minimal recorded influx of IDPs and refugee returnees
and low level of security incidents. 42 conflict and natural disaster IDPs were registered from 2011-2013ix.
UNHCR estimates that up to 200 families are temporarily displaced annually from Behsud I and II districts of
Maydan Wardak province to Bamyan.
ES/NFIs: Bamyan ES/NFIs needs and vulnerability are ranked ‘medium’. 13,975 families were affected by
natural disasters in 2011-2013 and 628 houses were damaged or destroyed from 2012 to 2013. Kahmard and
Shibar districts remain a concern due to their vulnerability to natural disasters and limited access.
Nutrition: Bamyan Nutrition needs and vulnerability are ranked medium with high food insecurity and medium
Acute Diarrhea Disease indexes.
i Afg_2014HNO_ANNEX_B_Maps_Tables_Final
Document Title
ii
|2
Central Highland 3Ws
iii CHAP 2014: Humanitarian Needs Overview/People Affected by Natural Disasters (non IDPs) – IOM HAP database, 1 January 2011 – 31
August 2013.
iv CHAP 2014: Humanitarian Needs Overview /page 12
v MAIL Agriculture Prospect Report December 2012
vi CHAP 2014: Humanitarian Needs Overview/
vii CHAP 2014: Humanitarian Needs Overview/NRVA 2011-2012 data on access to safe drinking water.
viii CHAP 2014: Humanitarian Needs Overview /2011 – 2012 (Afghan year 1390 – 1391) water related diseases– HMIS, WHO. Weight of
1.5,
ix CHAP 2014: Humanitarian Needs Overview /ES/NFIs/ Cluster Natural disaster and conflict-induced IDPs displaced from 1 January
2011 until 31 August 2013. (UNHCR PMT and IOM HAP