In the wake of devastating floods in Afghanistan, many families face immense challenges and disruptions. This guide aims to provide comprehensive support and practical advice to help flood-affected families navigate these difficult times. The following information and recommendations are designed to ensure the safety, dignity, and well-being of all family members, especially the most vulnerable.
Evacuation and Safety
1. Don’t Leave Anyone Behind: If you need to evacuate your home or village, ensure that no one is left behind, especially vulnerable individuals such as children, persons with disabilities, and older persons. They may need additional assistance to evacuate safely.
2. Stay Together: When moving to an evacuation center or another safe place, keep your family together to avoid anyone getting lost. If possible, take important documents with you, such as legal identity papers and documents related to your home or land.
Special Support for Vulnerable Groups
3. Recognize Specific Needs: Certain groups, including children, adolescents, pregnant and lactating women, mothers with young children, women-headed households, persons with disabilities, and older persons, have specific needs. Act as a community to ensure their safety and provide the necessary support.
4. Assist Those Needing Special Support: Help individuals who may require additional support, such as women and children without family support, women-headed households, persons with disabilities, older persons, and child-headed families. If you notice that these individuals are not receiving adequate assistance, contact humanitarian workers.
Preventing Exploitation and Abuse
5. Protect Vulnerable Individuals: In emergency situations, vulnerable individuals such as children, young people, women, and persons with disabilities may be at risk of exploitation and abuse. Ensure that this does not happen to members of your family or community.
Women and Girls’ Needs
6. Address Specific Needs: Women and adolescent girls in emergency situations have specific needs for privacy, hygiene, and well-being. Ensure that women and girls are involved in decision-making processes such as assessments, planning service delivery, and distribution and allocation of shelters.
7. Equal Participation: As a community member, ensure that women, men, boys, girls, older persons, and persons with disabilities equally participate in designing and locating facilities and distribution points.
Child Protection
8. Do Not Separate Families: Service providers should not separate children from their parents, family members, siblings, or trusted adults unless there is an imminent risk to the child. If you witness such separation, report it to a child protection worker or a humanitarian actor, or contact the Awaaz Humanitarian Call Centre at 410, free of charge.
9. Handle Unaccompanied Children with Care: If you encounter a child who appears to be alone, do not assume the child is lost or unaccompanied. The parent or caregiver might be nearby. Verify the child’s status by asking them and those around if they know the child. Unless there is imminent danger, stay with the child at the location to ensure someone looking for the child can find them. Avoid making promises about finding their parents or caregivers. As a last resort, report to a child protection worker or humanitarian actor, or contact the Awaaz Humanitarian Call Centre at 410, free of charge.
Reporting and Seeking Help
10. Know Where to Report: If you need to report inappropriate behavior, exploitation, or abuse, or if you need to report a child in distress, you can contact the Awaaz Humanitarian Call Centre by dialing 410, free of charge. This service provides a confidential hotline accessible to anyone with a mobile phone in Afghanistan and operates seven days a week with male and female agents who speak Dari, Pashto, Urdu, English, and other languages.
Conclusion
By following this guide, flood-affected Afghan families can ensure their safety and well-being during these challenging times. The collective efforts of communities and humanitarian organizations aim to provide the necessary support and assistance to all affected individuals. Remember, you are not alone, and help is available. For further information or to report any issues, contact the Awaaz Humanitarian Call Centre at 410, free of charge.
Ask for help from "Beporsed"
For those Afghans seeking specific information, "Beporsed" is here to help. You can reach our information center through WhatsApp (+93729807235), Facebook Messenger, or our website's Messenger to ask our online information desk officer for assistance.
For more information
For more information on immigration, resettlement, education and scholarship programs, and other opportunities available to Afghans worldwide, as well as details on the humanitarian services provided by international organizations in Afghanistan and procedures for obtaining civil documents from governmental institutions, please visit Beporsed's website and social media pages.
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