Winterization Aid for Afghan communities

Given the steady fall of temperature in November and December 2025 (particulary during the nights reaching -7 degrees c.)  the families in vulnerable conditions started reaching out. The local news reported several deaths over the very cold nights among the poor households.

In January 2026, Action for Development supplied 300 families (approximately 2100 people) in Kabul and Parwan Province with 40 kilo sacks of coal to help them to deal with the harsh winter season experienced in Afghanistan. 60 percent of Afghanistan's families live below the poverty line, unable to meet basic needs such as food, heating and healthcare. As winter temperatures drop, these vulnerabilities intensify sharply.

The recipient families were the families of children enrolled in Action for Development’s three schools for street working children. These very vulnerable children are often the only members of their families who are able to earn any income, albeit very small. These families find it very difficult to be able to afford to heat their homes during the extreme cold of the winter months. 

These households are among the most marginalized, facing extreme poverty, unemployment, food insecurity, and heightened risks during winter. These households depend on irregular daily labor or street-based income, which declines sharply during winter, while household expenditures for heating and food increase. Without winter support, families are forced to make impossible choices between food and fuel. Children face increased pressure to engage in street work and their households face heightened risks of hunger and preventable winter-related illness. Many of these children have been reportedly detained and jailed by the current authorities because of working on the streets, however, there is either death or jail and they had to make their choice. 

The supply of coal helped families such as Ramzia’s. Ramzia is 13 years old. She is an orphan and works on the streets of Kabul every day to support her family. On a good day she earns between 50 and 100 Afghanis, barely enough to buy a few pieces of bread. In this way she tries to support her sick mother and three younger siblings. On cold winter days, Ramzia sits quietly at the entrance of a restaurant, offering chewing gum to people as they leave. She is too ashamed to beg, so she tries to sell what little she has. When the temperatures drop and people stay indoors, even this fragile income disappears. 

The support that Action Development has been able to provide to families such as Ramzia’s is a lifeline, providing life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable families and a means to survive the winter with dignity.

Every winter in Afghanistan, freezing temperatures descend upon communities already struggling with poverty and displacement. For countless families, this season brings not only biting cold but also renewed hardship — homes without insulation, limited access to heating fuel, and empty kitchens as food prices soar. For children, the Afghan winter often means sleepless nights shivering under thin blankets, frequent illness from exposure, and interrupted education as schools become inaccessible or too cold to attend.

In response to these recurring challenges, Action for Development (AfD) has launched its Winterization Program, a life-saving initiative designed to bring warmth, safety, and hope to those most affected by the harsh winter conditions. The program is guided by a simple yet powerful vision: no family should suffer from preventable cold and hunger.

Program Scope and Target Population

This year, AfD aims to reach around 1,000 vulnerable households, benefitting nearly 6,000 individuals across some of Afghanistan’s most underserved communities. The focus is on widows, internally displaced families, returnees, and the households of street-working children, who often have little or no means to prepare for winter. These groups face heightened risks of respiratory illness, malnutrition, and social isolation during the coldest months of the year.

Each selected family receives a comprehensive winter assistance kit that includes:

• Thermal blankets and warm clothing for children and adults,
• Heating materials, such as coal, firewood, or briquettes adapted to local availability, and
• Essential food supplies like flour, rice, and oil to ensure families can sustain themselves during the lean months.

Community-Led Approach and Implementation

AfD’s winterization response is rooted in a community-based approach. Before distribution begins, a needs assessment is conducted in collaboration with local leaders and women headed households. This ensures that support is targeted to those who need it most and that the process reflects local realities.

By relying on local procurement and supply chains – so that the actual funds which are directed to Afghanistan would empower the local market stimulating the local economy, supporting small vendors and suppliers during a typically low-income season. This approach reinforces community trust and ownership, helping the initiative become more sustainable over time.

Distribution activities are carried out transparently, with monitoring teams visiting each site to verify fair delivery, gather feedback, and assess the impact on beneficiaries. Beneficiary selection and post-distribution monitoring prioritize accountability and inclusivity, ensuring women-headed households and marginalized groups are not left behind.

Impact and Broader Significance

The Winterization Program is more than an act of seasonal charity — it is a lifeline that protects families from preventable suffering. By reducing cold-related illnesses such as pneumonia and flu, it helps safeguard children’s health and enables them to continue attending school during the winter months. The assistance also provides psychological relief and restores a sense of dignity to families struggling to meet their most basic needs.

For AfD, this initiative aligns with its broader mission to strengthen resilience, improve living conditions, and promote human dignity across Afghanistan. Each blanket distributed, each home warmed, and each child kept safe from the cold is a testament to collective compassion and effective community action.

A Call for Solidarity

Keeping Afghan families warm through the winter is a shared humanitarian responsibility. With the ongoing economic crisis and rising fuel costs, the need for support grows each year. Through partnerships, donations, and advocacy, we can extend the reach of this vital program and ensure that less children face the winter alone and suffer from cold.

Together, we can continue to turn the simple act of providing warmth into a powerful gesture of hope, resilience, and human solidarity.

• Winterization_Program__Warmth_is_Life.pdf (PDF)