For the past 75 years, the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) has provided an integral level of health and humanitarian support to areas in Afghanistan suffering as a result of emergency situations.
The Red Crescent's Disaster Management Department assists the Afghan population across 28 provinces within the country that have been affected by natural and unnatural disasters, including armed conflict, flooding, earthquakes and droughts.
As part of its disaster assistance activities, the ARCS maintains stocks of emergency relief items, including food and non-food items, at its regional offices branches spread out across the country. These provincial branches are used as centres of operation and distribution points year around offering a variety of services to local communities.
With the active support of the Canadian Red Cross and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), ARCS offers a variety of humanitarian and community services to local Afghans that are otherwise non-existent in this war-torn country.
In addition, the ARCS works in tandem with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to improve the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan through the Tracing Program, which began in 1997 after the ICRC opened a main delegation in Kabul.
This far-reaching program, which has since been integrated into the framework of several provincial branches of the ARCS, offers services to those displaced or separated from loved ones due to violence, civil unrest and war.
Those who have been unable to reach or locate a loved one may be able to trace his or her whereabouts or gain confirmation of imprisonment with help from the ARCS and ICRC. If a loved one is detained, the Red Crescent works to ensure that basic needs are met.
The efforts of these agencies to preserve humanitarian conditions in Afghanistan have been tireless. The Canadian Red Cross has lent its resources to the ARCS and ICRC through involvement with the disaster management project, which has already impacted the lives of nearly 10,000 people in the country.
Through the project, the ARCS hopes to improve its response time to small- and large-scale disasters throughout the country by pre-positioning non-food items and shelters in strategic places. The Canadian Red Cross' efforts to assist the ARCS and ICRC in Afghanistan have been made possible through the generous support of the Canadian International Development Agency and from donors just like you. Contributions can be made online to the International Programs Fund to help assist millions of people in need.