Providing urgent assistance and protection to families affected by devastating floods in Taiwara District
TYPE: Emergency Relief under the DERF Rapid Response Mechanism
IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD: 10 June 2024 – 9 December 2024
GEOGRAPHICAL FOCUS: Taiwara District, Ghor Province, Afghanistan
DONOR: Danish Emergency Relief Fund (DERF), administered by CISU
GRANT HOLDER: Rebuild Aid Forening, Denmark
LOCAL IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATION: Saifrood Unity and Aid Organization (SUAO)
TARGET GROUP: 65 highly vulnerable families whose homes, livelihoods and essential household assets were severely affected by flooding
Project Overview
The project “Emergency Response and Relief for Flood-Affected Communities in Ghor Province” was implemented following severe storms and flash floods that caused extensive destruction in Taiwara District.
The floods damaged or destroyed homes, agricultural fields, crops, livestock, roads and essential household belongings. Families that were already living with poverty, food insecurity and limited access to public services suddenly lost the resources on which their daily survival depended.
Some households were forced to sleep outdoors or in unsafe temporary shelters after their homes collapsed or became uninhabitable. Food reserves, blankets, clothing, kitchen materials and other essential possessions were washed away or damaged. The destruction of roads and pathways further isolated affected communities and complicated access to markets, healthcare and humanitarian assistance.
In response, Saifrood Unity and Aid Organization, in partnership with Rebuild Aid Forening and with financial support from the Danish Emergency Relief Fund, implemented a targeted emergency intervention to meet immediate survival needs and prevent the situation from developing into a deeper humanitarian crisis.
Humanitarian Context
Ghor is one of Afghanistan’s most geographically isolated and underserved provinces. Its mountainous terrain, weak road infrastructure, dispersed settlements and limited public services make humanitarian response particularly difficult.
Following the floods, affected households faced overlapping risks, including:
- Destruction of homes and temporary displacement
- Loss of food stocks and household supplies
- Damage to agricultural land and standing crops
- Loss of livestock and livelihood assets
- Limited access to clean water
- Lack of blankets, clothing and cooking equipment
- Increased exposure to illness and poor hygiene conditions
- Reduced access to markets and healthcare
- Heightened protection risks for vulnerable household members
The emergency was particularly serious for families with young children, women-headed households, older persons, persons with disabilities and households without alternative income or family support.
Rapid Needs Assessment
SUAO deployed field teams to affected communities shortly after the flooding to assess the extent of damage and identify households facing the most urgent needs.
The assessment process considered:
- Damage to homes and shelter conditions
- Household size and composition
- Loss of crops, livestock and productive assets
- Access to food and drinking water
- Availability of blankets, clothing and cooking materials
- Presence of young children, older persons or persons with disabilities
- Household income and access to external support
- Immediate health and protection concerns
- Assistance received from other humanitarian actors
Based on these assessments, 65 families were identified as requiring urgent support.
Beneficiary Selection
Beneficiaries were selected using transparent humanitarian vulnerability criteria.
Priority was given to:
- Families whose homes were destroyed or rendered unsafe
- Households that lost food stocks and essential possessions
- Female-headed households
- Families with young children
- Older persons living without adequate support
- Persons with disabilities
- Households without reliable income
- Families that lost crops, livestock or other livelihood assets
- Households receiving little or no assistance from other sources
Community leaders and local representatives contributed contextual information, while final beneficiary selection was based on documented vulnerability and household verification.
Emergency Relief Assistance
The intervention provided essential relief assistance to help families meet immediate needs during the critical period following the floods.
Support included:
- Essential food supplies
- Warm blankets
- Hygiene materials
- Kitchen equipment
- Basic household items
- Other non-food items required for temporary living conditions
For households that had lost almost all their belongings, these items provided immediate protection, food security and a basic capacity to organise daily life.
Blankets helped reduce exposure to cold, while kitchen materials allowed families to prepare food safely. Hygiene supplies supported dignity and helped reduce preventable health risks in temporary and overcrowded living conditions.
Key Project Activities
The project included:
- Rapid field assessments in flood-affected communities
- Household registration and verification
- Vulnerability-based beneficiary selection
- Procurement and preparation of relief assistance
- Distribution of food and essential household items
- Support for particularly vulnerable household members
- Coordination with village leaders and community structures
- Community information before distributions
- Monitoring of relief delivery
- Beneficiary follow-up
- Complaints and feedback management
- Documentation of results and lessons learned
Community Engagement and Local Coordination
Community participation was essential in reaching affected families in remote areas.
SUAO coordinated with:
- Village elders
- Community councils
- Local authorities
- Community representatives
- Volunteers and other local stakeholders
Communities received information about the purpose of the project, selection criteria, available assistance, distribution arrangements and the right to receive support free of charge.
Local coordination helped:
- Identify severely affected settlements
- Verify household information
- Locate vulnerable and less-visible families
- Organise distributions safely
- Reduce duplication and misinformation
- Strengthen community confidence in the process
SUAO retained responsibility for applying vulnerability criteria and confirming final eligibility.
Protection and Safeguarding
Protection considerations were integrated throughout assessment, registration and distribution.
Particular attention was given to:
- Women-headed households
- Children
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Families living in unsafe shelter conditions
- Households with urgent medical needs
- Individuals without adequate family support
The project sought to ensure that assistance was delivered safely, impartially and respectfully.
Beneficiaries were not required to pay, provide favours or share assistance in exchange for inclusion. Personal information collected during registration was handled confidentially and used only for legitimate programme purposes.
Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning
A structured Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning process supported project quality and transparency.
Monitoring activities included:
- Verification of beneficiary registration records
- Observation of distributions
- Confirmation that households received the intended assistance
- Review of signed distribution documentation
- Beneficiary interviews
- Household follow-up
- Monitoring of access and protection concerns
- Collection of community feedback
- Documentation of operational challenges
- Review of lessons for future emergency responses
Monitoring helped confirm whether assistance reached the intended households and whether the provided items addressed priority needs.
Information collected during implementation was reviewed to improve distribution arrangements, communication with communities and future disaster-response procedures.
Post-Distribution Monitoring
Following the distribution, SUAO conducted Post-Distribution Monitoring with beneficiary households to assess the relevance, accessibility and effectiveness of the assistance.
The monitoring examined:
- Whether families received the complete assistance package
- Whether the items were useful and appropriate
- Whether food assistance addressed immediate consumption needs
- Whether blankets and household items improved living conditions
- Beneficiary satisfaction with registration and distribution
- Accessibility and safety of the process
- Awareness of complaints and feedback channels
- Remaining unmet needs
- Any concerns relating to fairness, staff conduct or protection
The findings provided evidence about the immediate value of the intervention and generated practical recommendations for future humanitarian responses.
Accountability to Affected Communities
SUAO maintained communication with affected households before, during and after distributions.
Beneficiaries were informed about:
- Project objectives
- Eligibility criteria
- Selection and verification procedures
- Contents of the assistance package
- Distribution dates and locations
- Their right to receive assistance without payment
- Complaints and feedback options
- Confidentiality of personal information
Community members could raise questions, suggestions or complaints through SUAO’s established accountability mechanisms.
Feedback was reviewed and addressed according to its nature and sensitivity. Concerns involving fraud, exploitation, abuse or staff misconduct were to be handled through confidential referral pathways.
Main Results
The project reported the following results:
- 68 severely flood-affected families received emergency relief assistance.
- Households gained access to food, blankets, hygiene materials, kitchen equipment and essential household items.
- Immediate risks of hunger, exposure and illness were reduced.
- Children, older persons and persons with disabilities received protection during a critical period.
- Families living in unsafe or temporary conditions gained greater stability.
- Community participation supported transparent and locally accepted delivery.
- The intervention reached an area where rapid external assistance was extremely limited.
- SUAO strengthened its capacity in rapid assessment, relief logistics, beneficiary verification, monitoring and local humanitarian coordination.
Humanitarian Impact
The intervention helped prevent a local emergency from escalating into a more severe humanitarian crisis.
For families who had lost food stocks and household belongings, the assistance addressed immediate needs that could not be postponed. Food supplies reduced the risk of hunger, while blankets, hygiene materials and kitchen equipment supported safer and more dignified living conditions.
The assistance was especially important for children, older persons and people with disabilities, who faced heightened health and protection risks after losing shelter and essential household resources.
The project also provided psychological reassurance. Families who had felt isolated and abandoned received evidence that their situation had been recognised and that support was available.
Although limited in scale, the intervention made a direct and tangible difference in communities where few other humanitarian actors were able to respond rapidly.
Locally Led Humanitarian Response
SUAO’s local access and community relationships were essential in Taiwara District.
Its field responsibilities included:
- Conducting rapid assessments
- Identifying affected communities
- Registering and verifying households
- Coordinating with community structures
- Organising distributions
- Monitoring delivery
- Following up with beneficiaries
- Collecting complaints and feedback
- Documenting results and lessons
Local implementation allowed the response to adapt to difficult terrain, limited infrastructure and community-level realities.
Partnership
The project combined the complementary roles of the partners involved.
Saifrood Unity and Aid Organization led local assessment, beneficiary engagement, distribution, monitoring and community coordination.
Rebuild Aid Forening managed the DERF grant, financial oversight, donor compliance, technical support and reporting.
The Danish Emergency Relief Fund, administered by CISU, provided the rapid financing required to act during the critical period following the floods.
The partnership demonstrated how flexible humanitarian funding, diaspora engagement and local implementation capacity can deliver targeted support in isolated and underserved areas.
Sustainability and Recovery
The intervention was designed primarily to address urgent humanitarian needs, but it also contributed to early recovery.
By providing essential food and household items, the project helped families preserve limited remaining resources and avoid harmful coping strategies such as:
- Selling remaining livestock or productive assets
- Taking on unsustainable debt
- Reducing household food consumption
- Moving again under unsafe conditions
- Neglecting health and hygiene needs
The project also strengthened local preparedness by improving SUAO’s systems for emergency assessment, beneficiary registration, relief distribution, monitoring and community accountability.
Organisational Learning
Implementation generated several important lessons.
Rapid local assessment enables timely action
Field access and community relationships were critical for identifying urgent needs in remote locations.
Clear vulnerability criteria strengthen fairness
Transparent selection procedures reduced the risk of favouritism and helped build community trust.
Community communication must begin early
Providing clear information before distribution reduced confusion and supported orderly implementation.
Relief packages must reflect assessed needs
Food, blankets, hygiene materials and kitchen equipment were relevant because families had lost basic household resources.
Monitoring should continue after distribution
Follow-up helped determine whether assistance was useful and identify remaining humanitarian needs.
Local capacity is essential in hard-to-reach areas
A local organisation with established access can respond more quickly and appropriately than actors without a sustained presence.
Accountability strengthens programme quality
Accessible feedback and complaints channels help identify concerns and improve future implementation.
Conclusion
The project “Emergency Response and Relief for Flood-Affected Communities in Ghor Province” provided urgent assistance to families whose homes, livelihoods and essential belongings had been severely affected by flooding in Taiwara District.
Through rapid assessments, transparent beneficiary selection, emergency relief distributions, protection-sensitive implementation, community engagement and monitoring, the intervention reduced immediate risks and helped affected households regain a minimum level of safety and stability.
The response demonstrated the value of combining DERF’s rapid financing, Rebuild Aid Forening’s grant-management role and SUAO’s local presence to reach vulnerable families in a remote area where humanitarian assistance was otherwise limited.
The number of supported households, identity of the local implementing partner and assistance modality should be aligned with the official project documents before this page is published.