Standard Project Report 2016
Finding a way in— overcoming access constraints
Insecurity across the country remained a challenge for WFP programme delivery in 2016. The most insecure provinces with a high programme concentration included Helmand and Uruzgan provinces in the south, Kunduz and Baghlan in the north, Farah, Faryab and Badghis in the west, Khost, Paktya, Ghazni and Paktika in the southeast, the province of Ghor in the center of the country and Badakhshan in the northeast.
WFP Afghanistan foresaw the effect of insecurity at the launch of the PRRO late in 2013, when it was clear that the withdrawal of the NATO forces in 2014 would create a security vacuum in some parts of the country. In 2016 alone, some 15 districts across the country became totally inaccessible for WFP ' s partners, resulting in temporary or total suspension of food assistance, most notably nutrition and school meals programmes.
In order to adopt and overcome obstacles caused by insecurity and continue delivering the programme, WFP took the following additional measures:
1. Organizational change to tackle access issues— Measures in this respect included the formation and strengthening of field offices access negotiation teams, consisting of staff from programme, logistics and security functions. Similarly, the country office access working group was re-organized. In the new structure, the WFP Country Director is leading the effort to provide timely decisions and support for field offices. Also, terms of reference were developed for both groups to enable clear and timely directions.
2. Capacity development in access negotiation— In collaboration with WFP ' s global headquarters and a consultant from the International Red Cross Commission, a two-day formal training on access negotiation approaches was provided to 25 staff from the access negotiation teams of both the country office and field offices. The training aimed to equip frontline and other staff in the country office with a better understanding of how to approach access issues in a structured way, including tactical tools to maintain momentum in access negotiations for the longer term.
3. Adaptation of programme modalities— Programme modalities such as cash-based transfers were deployed to meet food needs, particularly in isolated areas where roads were blocked preventing food convoy movement, but where there were still functioning markets. The direct cash modality was also introduced to augment programme tools to circumvent physical access constraints and meet the food needs of beneficiaries in a timely manner;
4. Cooperation with third party monitors— In order to assess situations of food insecurity and ensure the accountability of WFP activities, WFP explored opportunities to cooperate with third party agents to conduct assessments and monitoring, and liaising with local authorities, especially in areas where WFP staff could not visit because of security constraints.
In summary, in 2016, the extreme challenges of accessibility resulted in the non-delivery or delay of WFP food assistance for 293,000 beneficiaries among the targeted 3.7 million beneficiaries. In terms of the volume of food, deliveries of 4,500 mt out of the total programmed quantity were either delayed or cancelled.
Afghanistan, Islamic Republic of( AF) 13 Single Country Special Operation- 200870