GET INVOLVED / UNHCR Shelter Program in Afghanistan: Matching Gift Campaign for 2011

The Khaled Hosseini Foundation is sponsoring a matching gift campaign for the UNHCR's Shelter Program in Afghanistan. The main objective of the program is to provide shelter packages that include essential construction materials, such as tools, roofing beams, doors and windows. With average low temperatures in Afghanistan at 25.5 degrees Fahrenheit for the five months from November through March and with January lows of 19.2 degrees Fahrenheit, shelter is of the utmost importance for refugees often living in tents or other sub-standard public buildings.

Nearly 5 million Afghans have returned to their homeland since 2002 from Pakistan and Iran. Approximately, 278,484 refugees returned in 2008 and another 52,000 returned in 2009 under the UNHCR's voluntary assistance return program. In 2010, the UNHCR expects to assist 165,000 returning refugees and another 200,000 internally displaced people. It is estimated that during the last 25 years of conflict more than 500,000 homes were either partially or totally destroyed. Since the inception of the UNHCR's shelter program in 2002, they have been able to provide 180,000 shelters, benefiting approximately one million Afghans.

The shelter program is designed to give priority to the most vulnerable families in need, including families headed by females, elderly or disabled persons, or families with very low incomes, as well as others who cannot build their homes on their own. In 2009 the UNHCR's shelter program supported approximately 47,400 families with shelters, providing benefit to an estimated 284,400 individuals. In 2010, the UNHCR is preparing to support approximately 4,070 families with shelters, benefitting an estimated 20,420 individuals.

The cost of a shelter is roughly $1,500 USD.

Your donation could help a family survive the bitter cold of winter in an unforgiving terrain. See within for a link to the UNHCR's shelter program pamphlet for more information

Donations of any size are greatly appreciated and will make an important difference to those who so desperately need our help.

Make a donation to The Khaled Hosseini Foundation's UNHCR Shelter Program campaign