“Your help revived me, like bringing the dead back to life,” said Gulpari.* "Every time I recite the Holy Qur’an I pray for you all, because in very difficult times you took our hand.”

Gulpari is referring to the cash assistance she received from ActionAid, supported by the OCHA-managed Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund. The cash transfers enable recipients to use the money as they see fit.

Gulpari was just 19 when a rocket struck her home in Aryoub Zazi, Paktia Province, changing her life forever.

“I was young and engaged, sitting at home when a rocket hit me in the back,” she recalled. “Since then my legs have been paralysed. Doctors say I can recover with proper treatment, but we cannot afford it.”

Timely aid

Now 35, Gulpari lives with her brother, Amingul,* and their extended family in a modest home in Kabul’s Bagrami district. Amingul, a cobbler, is the family’s sole provider, supporting 14 people, including three brothers with neurological disorders. Providing for such a large family was always a challenge, but recent hardships make survival even more difficult.

“I haven’t been able to work for the past few days because my fingers were badly cut and torn,” Amingul said. “Now they are slowly healing, but I lost crucial days of income.”

With no savings and mounting debts, the family’s situation seemed hopeless until they received the cash assistance.

Amingul explained: “When we received this aid I was deeply in debt. We had no food at home. I used some of the money to pay off debts and buy food and medicine for my sister.” 

Lifeline for many

Their family is among the 1,000 households (approximately 7,000 people) receiving cash assistance – a crucial lifeline for the most vulnerable people.

ActionAid’s multipurpose cash project provides immediate financial relief to particularly vulnerable households, including internally displaced people, returnees, people with disabilities and women-headed households. Giving cash directly to families enables them to prioritize what matters most at that time.

ActionAid is delivering the cash assistance in Bagrami and Deh Sabz districts. Eligible families are selected through a community-based process to ensure fairness and needs-based assistance. Each household receives US$156 per month for three months, in line with guidance from the humanitarian community’s global Cash Working Group.

This support is a temporary reprieve for people like Amingul and Gulpari. But without sustained aid their struggles will persist. Thousands of people across Afghanistan continue to face economic hardship, displacement and health crises. They urgently need long-term support.  

*Names have been changed.

Originally published on unocha.org