Habitat for Humanity Afghanistan
| Contact information | HFH Afghanistan
PO Box #52
First Street Tekhnikom-i-neft-o-gaz
Mazar-I-Sharif
Afghanistan
Phone: +93 700500758
E-mail: fahimnazmy@yahoo.com
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Afghanistan -- Habitat for Humanity Int'l 1
A VAST, DRY AND MOUNTAINOUS LAND, Afghanistan is still mired in conflict after three decades of war and civil unrest. Continuing fighting in parts of the country is hindering reconstruction efforts. Rapid growth in the urban population also poses a challenge to the country’s development.
According to a 2010 United Nations report, about nine million Afghans, or 36 percent of the population, live in absolute poverty.
More than two million houses in the country have been destroyed or damaged beyond repair in the long years of conflict and war, according to the United Nations.
Since the fall of the Taliban government in 2001, there has been an increase in demand for housing. An estimated five million refugees have returned from neighboring countries. Others who are displaced within Afghanistan have also returned to their own towns or cities.
The steady flow of refugees has exacerbated the problem of inadequate housing in the capital Kabul and other cities such as Jalalabad, Mazar and Kandahar. Official government figures indicate that at least three million of the five-million strong Kabul population are living in illegal and unplanned houses.
The influx has pushed up the prices of land and construction materials. These pressures are particularly acute in urban areas where three in four Afghans live in poverty. Lack of clean water is common. Electricity is intermittently available in urban areas and non-existent in most rural areas.
Although a banking system exists, housing loans are rarely granted. It is not uncommon for property titles to be contested, causing numerous disputes.
Habitat for Humanity Afghanistan began its program in the northern province of Balkh in 2002. Habitat provided First Shelter homes to meet the demands of families in desperate need of immediate shelter. With no mortgage repayments required for First Shelter homes, costs were kept low by involving families and communities in construction.
First Shelter homes used traditional mud bricks, mud and straw plastering, wooden doors and windows. Each house measured about 36 sq. m. The buildings were designed to include two areas where people can live and work, earning a living by carpet weaving for example, with a traditional domed roof to enhance temperature control.
In November 2005, Habitat started a Save & Build housing microfinance program in Yaka-Toot village near Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province. Under this model, 10 to 12 families form a group to save for the cost of building houses. When they have saved enough for the cost of one house, Habitat and its partners contribute the costs of another two houses and construction begins. The group repeats the savings cycle until all the member families have been housed.
Save & Build was extended to the villages of Ali Abad and Turabi, just east of Mazar-i-Sharif in 2005. The savings groups each comprised an average of 17 families. Construction began in July 2005 and, by December 2010, more than 200 houses had been completed.
A Save & Build house is typically about 38.5 sq. m. in size and comprises one room, a bathroom and a hallway. Monthly mortgage repayments are around U$23 over what is usually a ten-year loan.
HFH Afghanistan is currently not hosting any international volunteers. It hopes to welcome Global Village teams when the political situation stabilizes.
HABITAT HIGHLIGHTS
• In December 2010, HFH Afghanistan held a joint dedication ceremony to mark the handover of 23 houses built for the Amani community as well as a three-classroom, Australian-funded school for the Turabi community. Both communities are located in Mazar-i-Sharif, in northern Afghanistan.
• In March 2010, HFH Afghanistan dedicated two classrooms benefiting about 200 students in the Ali Abad community in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh province. HFH Afghanistan also built new toilets, repaired existing ones, installed new sinks and provided water, via a pipe, from a well.
• Habitat completed construction of 184 new houses for Save & Build groups in Ali Abad, Turabi and Yaka Toot villages, east of Mazar-i-Sharif, in June 2007.
• In May 2007, a group of Swedish soldiers based in Afghanistan donated US$2,000 toward the Save & Build project in Ali Abad community.
• In November 2005, a group of Canadian soldiers based in Afghanistan donated US$4,800 to help Afghan school teachers in Mazar-i-Sharif to accelerate home construction.
• Home partners produced 240,000 mud bricks for their homes in Yaka-Toot and Ali Abad villages in June 2005.
• Some 335 families in the northern Balkh province were provided with First Shelter homes in Salbarun and Timorak villagesin 2002 and 2003.
COUNTRY FACTS
Population: 29,121,286 (July 2010 est.)
Capital: Kabul
Area: 652,230 sq. km.
Ethnic groups: Pashtun 42%, Tajik 27%, Hazara 9%, Uzbek 9%, Aimak 4%, Turkmen 3%, Baloch 2%, others 4%
Languages: Afghan Persian or Dari (official) 50%, Pashtu (official) 35%, Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%, much bilingualism
Religions: Sunni Muslim 80%, Shi’ite Muslim 19%, others 1%
Literacy: 28.1% (2001)
Urbanization: 24% (2008)
Population Living in Absolute Poverty: 36% (2010)
Access to Improved Water Sources: 22% (2008)
Access to Improved Sanitation: 30% (2008)
Sources: CIA World Factbook, World Bank, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Updated January 2011