27, May 2021. The government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan with the support of UN-Habitat initiate land allotment under SHURA Programme.

The government of Afghanistan has started the issuance of land for IDPs and returnees under the Sustainable Human Settlements in Urban Areas to support the Reintegration of Afghanistan, commonly known as the SHURA programme.

With refugees returning to the country, the government is allocating state land based on the presidential decree 108 in Shakrdara district of Kabul province. Recently 1,000 families of returnees and IDPs have received land from the government of Afghanistan.

At the recent public balloting event for allotment of state land to IDPs & returnees, organized by the Ministry and UN-Habitat Afghanistan, the Minister of Refugees and Returnees, Noor Rahman Akhlaqi said, “with the technical assistance of UN-Habitat we identified and registered more than 1,800 eligible families. Unfortunately, we don’t have all the resources, at present, for all eligible returnees to receive state land entitlement, but we are mobilizing resources and improving our processes for better settlement of all eligible refugees returning home. Today 1,000 families of the returnees and IDPs will receive entitlements to their own land in Eltifat Township.”

UN-Habitat and Government official at the balloting ceremony for issuance of land entitlement to IDPs and Returnees

The long-standing armed conflict in Afghanistan caused 4.6 million Afghans to leave their country and another 2.2 million are Internally Displaced due to insecurity, poverty, and unemployment. These migrated families were living in neighboring courtiers like Pakistan and Iran for a long time.

Families who left their country in search of refuge lost everything. With hope for peace and prosperity, around 3.5 million returning refugees are in desperate need of settlement. To facilitate peaceful return and sustainable settlement, UN Habitat is working closely with the Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan through relevant ministries and municipalities. f they didn’t have a house for living and the land to build the house. Some of them are not able to build their houses because of the bad economic situation. As a flagship programme, SHURA is leading this systematic urbanization process.

At the balloting ceremony which was held in Ministry of Refugees & Returnees, a number of dignitaries administered the balloting process in a transparent, systematic and efficient manner in presence of media and the identified eligible beneficiaries. The notables included Deputy Minister of Urban Development and Land, Mr. Aziz Ahmad Gulistany; the Governor of Kabul, Mr. Mohammd Youqoob Haidary; and representative of UN-Habitat Afghanistan, Ms. Jennifer Donovan. A remarkable number of female beneficiaries also received participated in the balloting process and received their land entitlement, alongside male Afghan returnees.

UN-Habitat SHURA team with Minister of Refugees and Returnees at the balloting ceremony

Mr. Aziz Ahmad Gulistany, the DM of MUDL said in his speech: “Thanks to all who contributed to this programme, especially UN-Habitat for their technical support.” He further emphasized, “Based on our survey we need at least 40,000 houses each year in Afghanistan, but we cannot offer adequate housing to all the eligible people. The returnees really need our help and care to have access to reasonable housing facilities.”

The governor of Kabul, Mr. Muhammad Yoqoob Haidary thanked UN-Habitat for the technical support and expressed: “Our people lost their houses during the war in Afghanistan, they need the support of the government, but if did not have the support of UN-Habitat we would not have been able to do this excellent work so let’s thank and encourage UN-Habitat for their excellent support.”

Jennifer Donovan the representative of UN-Habitat said: “We are pleased to have been able to work with the government and contribute toward achieving this goal of providing sustainable settlements to displaced Afghans.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank the government for their collaboration.”

Ms. Masooma, an IDP from Nili received her land entitlement from the Government of Afghanistan

Since 2001, thousands of displaced families are returning back to their homeland Afghanistan. Most of the returnees continue to settle in the cities causing rapid and unstructured population growth in urban Afghanistan. Most of these settlements were deprived of basic land entitlements, housing facilities, public services, and civic amenities.

Through this transparent public balloting, SHURA Programme has demonstrated once again that the re-settlement of Afghan returnees is well on its way. These efforts need to be stepped up with increased collaboration and support from all stakeholders to continue scaling up and delivering sustainable and inclusive urban settlements for peaceful, prosperous, productive, and resilient citizens of Afghanistan. The SHURA programme has been made possible with funding from the European Union and the Danish government. This programme is uniquely designed by UN-Habitat with area-based spatial mapping that serves as a successful case study for urban reintegration planning and will be scaled up across other provinces with a high number of returning refugees.

1,000 Families of IDPs and Returnees received their land entitlement through SHURA programme