DOHA: Qatar Red Crescent (QRC) has launched a multi-sector development project worth QR1,606,530 for the people of Goshta and Bihsud districts and social care home inmates in Jalalabad, Nangarhar province, eastern Afghanistan.
In partnership with Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS), the project is expected to serve 7,635 families including 53,445 people.
They aim to improve living standards in the eastern provinces deprived of basic needs as a result of 35 years of wars and natural disasters such as drought, floods, earthquakes and landslides.
All of this have weighed heavily on the torn-out infrastructure and displaced hundreds of thousands of Afghans, together with malnutrition, high infant mortality rates and low-income.
The project includes 40 homes in Goshta and Bihsud using local patterns and materials.
Each home will comprise two rooms, a bathroom and a kitchen, at an estimated cost of $3,000.
In Goshta, 20 water wells will be dug about 40-60 metres deep depending on the distance from the river. They will be equipped with tanks, filters and manual pumps at a cost of $3,500-$6,500 per well.
Seventy 4sqm toilets will be built in Goshta and Bihsud at an estimated cost of $650 per toilet. The human waste can be turned later into fertiliser.
Four environmental and health awareness campaigns will be launched in both districts. Volunteers will be trained as health awareness campaigners who will initiate campaigns at schools, mosques, and public places to urge cleanliness and avoidance of the causes of various diseases.
Another campaign will be initiated, involving distribution of informative brochures, guidelines, posters, and illustrations at a cost of $1,250 per campaign.
The power network in part of Bihsud will be repaired by a specialist. The dysfunctional equipment will be replaced and maintained at an expected cost of $12,000.
Hadji Seddiquallah, Mayor, Bihsud, said, “We thank QRC and its staff who delivered on their promises to plan and execute the project for the poor. Afghanistan needs a lot of assistance in many aspects, particularly homes for the poor, clean water, mosques and schools for the Afghans who have suffered the atrocities of war and conflict.” Mohamed Iqbal Said, Head, ARCS office in Eastern Afghanistan, said, “The launch of the project is a new form of assistance from Qatar.”
The Peninsula
