Organizational Setting:
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-Habitat, is the agency for human settlements. It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities. The UN-Habitat Afghanistan country office is part of the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP). The position is in Bamiyan, Afghanistan.
Learning from the experience in the last 30 years and recognizing the realities of the current context in the country, UN-Habitat in Afghanistan designs and implements projects in settlements of all sizes, putting the needs of people first, targeting the most vulnerable and meeting local needs by focusing on area-based and community-driven outputs. The portfolio currently covers projects ranging from humanitarian responses to supporting recovery and meeting basic human needs. UN-Habitat collaborates closely with the UN country team as well as with technical and financial partners in Afghanistan, in alignment with the UN Strategic Framework for Afghanistan (UNSFA) and the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plans (HNRP). In alignment with those frameworks and the new UN-Habitat global strategic plan (2026-2029), UN-Habitat Afghanistan has recently published its strategic priorities for 2026-2027 for the office.
Afghanistan is experiencing a continuous humanitarian crisis, with over half a million people in the need of humanitarian assistance. Many people are displaced due to climate change, internal displacement or massive returns from neighboring countries, and many have sought refuge in the relative safety of cities, which are growing rapidly. The number of people living in unplanned, underserviced and informal settlements, including in risk prone areas, is increasing and living conditions as well as access to services is inadequate. The unfolding crisis in Afghan cities, which is accelerated by climate change impacts and natural disasters, is occurring in a context of underlying vulnerabilities, including infrastructure deficits, insecure livelihoods and pervasive tenure insecurity. Most at risk are displaced people in informal settlements, with women, disabled and ethnic minorities being particularly vulnerable.
UN-Habitat applies a participatory and community-driven approach, using participatory spatial planning and action planning processes to enable communities to identify and implement priority service and infrastructure investments to support their socioeconomic recovery processes and creating an enabling environment for durable solutions. UN-Habitat's community-cantered “People's Process” is a proven and effective approach to reduce vulnerability at scale in the Afghan context. UN-Habitat builds upon its long tradition of partnering with communities in informal settlements to create sustainable and safe settlements, improve living conditions and adequate livelihood opportunities to those most in need.
About the Project
Afghanistan’s prolonged conflict, instability, and recurring crises have led to large-scale and protracted internal displacement. This situation has been further intensified by the recent forced and voluntary return of refugees, undocumented Afghans, and Afghan Citizenship Card (ACC) holders from neighboring countries, particularly Pakistan and Iran. Since September 2023, more than 806,000 Afghans have returned from Pakistan alone, including both documented and undocumented individuals. A significant proportion of these returnees are children (61% under 18), while 17% of households are headed by women. This rapid influx has placed considerable pressure on already limited resources and overstretched basic services in Areas of Return (AoR), increasing the vulnerability of both returnees and already disadvantaged host communities.
In the North-East Region (NER), over 60,000 returnees have recently settled, mainly in two districts of Kunduz and one district in Baghlan. At the same time, Afghanistan continues to host an estimated 6 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), further straining local infrastructure and humanitarian capacities. Without timely and adequate intervention, the growing demand on scarce services, markets, and resources in areas with low absorption capacity risks heightening social tensions, triggering secondary displacement, and forcing affected populations to adopt negative coping strategies.
To better understand the needs on the ground, reintegration assessments were carried out in Baghlan and Kunduz provinces between November and December 2024. These assessments were jointly conducted by multiple UN agencies and national and international NGOs, covering 640 households, of which 40% of respondents were women. Using a mixed-method approach, including participatory tools such as Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) and Participatory Hazard, Vulnerability, and Capacity Assessment (PHVCA), along with spatial mapping, the assessments identified key cross-sectoral challenges faced by returnees and Displacement Affected Communities (DACs).
Findings indicate that both groups face significant barriers, including limited livelihood opportunities, inadequate access to essential services such as healthcare, education, water, sanitation, and transportation, as well as insufficient infrastructure. Returners, in particular, encounter difficulties in accessing land and adequate housing after long periods of displacement. These challenges are further compounded by the presence of explosive hazards and the impacts of climate change, including recurrent floods and droughts, which undermine agricultural productivity and disproportionately affect vulnerable populations lacking safe shelter and basic services.
In response to these identified needs, the Joint Project (JP) has been developed as a comprehensive, area-based, and multi-sectoral initiative. It aligns with key strategic frameworks, including the United Nations Strategic Framework for Afghanistan (UNSFA), the Special Trust Fund for Afghanistan (STFA) Strategic Note, and global standards for durable solutions. The project focuses on addressing critical gaps in three main areas: access to physical assets such as housing and essential infrastructure; strengthening livelihood assets including financial, human, and natural resources; and promoting citizen rights, particularly in relation to housing, land, and property (HLP).
All interventions are designed with a strong emphasis on gender sensitivity, social cohesion, and climate resilience, while ensuring the integration of protection principles, including child protection, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA), gender-based violence prevention, and mine risk awareness. The project adopts a participatory, community-driven approach, working closely with affected populations to identify and prioritize needs through Community Action Plans (CAPs), supported by spatial assessments and inclusive planning processes.
To enable effective implementation, key preparatory activities will include the establishment and strengthening of Local Implementation Communities (LICs), beneficiary selection, awareness on housing, land, and property rights, and mitigation of explosive hazard risks.
The project is structured around three main outcomes:
- Ensuring that essential services and community infrastructure are functional, sustainable, and responsive to the needs of women and men
- Supporting the recovery and resilience of livelihoods, local businesses, and the broader economy
- Promoting social cohesion, strengthening human rights, and improving access to justice at the community level
Overall, this integrated response aims to support the sustainable reintegration of returnees and IDPs while addressing the interconnected vulnerabilities of displacement-affected communities.
