Since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001, over five million Afghan refugees have returned to their homeland. Having often lived for decades as refugees in Pakistan and Iran, many returnees find themselves landless upon their return. To overcome this challenge, the Afghan government has provided returnees with plots of land through its land allocation scheme since 2005. However, with the designated sites often having little or no access to jobs or basic services, many returnees struggle to provide for their families and even end up re-migrating to neighbouring countries in order to find work.

One such land allocation site is Khowaja Alwan in Baghlan province, Northern Afghanistan. Here ACTED is working with returnees to provide them with sustainable livelihoods enabling them to reintegrate to the local community while supporting their families. ACTED’s work focuses on income generation through small business development, expansion of agricultural opportunities and improvement of infrastructure such as transport systems and waste disposal amongst others. Alongside this, ACTED is working to enhance the capacities of the community to allow them to take ownership of their own development process beyond the completion of the project.

Effective results

One beneficiary of the project is forty-year-old Mohamad Naem. Mohamad moved with his family to Khoja Alwan four years ago having previously lived as a refugee in Iran. Thanks to a block grant from ACTED, Mohamad has been able to set up his own shop selling food and other small items to the community. “In my opinion ACTED is the only organization that has effective activities which help the economic development of Khoja Alwan,” says Mohamad; “If these services weren’t here, then many people would have to move to Iran or Pakistan to find work.”

ACTED’s activities in Khowaja Alwan will see 406 returnee families in Balkh and Baghlan province, Northern Afghanistan, benefit from increased income generating opportunities, with the support of the US State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.