I worked alongside the Afghan Red Crescent Society, partner National Societies and the IFRC to write the Afghan Red Crescent Society’s Annual Report 2019.
Afghanistan was a country of contrasts in 2019. The Annual Report details the severe drought in 2018–2019 and the flash floods that followed in March and April 2019 that brought desolation to thousands of people already in dire circumstances. There was, however, hope for an end to the conflict in the country when the United States and the Taliban began peace talks in that year; with a peace agreement finally reached and signed in February 2020.
Working together, the report says, staff and volunteers from across the Red Cross Red Crescent network responded swiftly to the needs of Afghan citizens, reaching 5.8 million people with programmes and services in 2019. Their joint efforts and expanded presence enabled 5.2 million people to access healthcare services, especially in hard-to-reach areas in 2019. Throughout the year, the partnership provided humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable people; prioritizing those in disaster-affected communities while also focusing on internally displaced persons, under-immunized children, underprivileged women and people with disabilities.
