The European Union (EU) has agreed to finance   EMERGENCY with EUR 5 million grant supporting medical training programmes across the health facilities ran by EMERGENCY in Afghanistan. The 3-year project will improve access to high-quality healthcare services in the country through specialised skills development for residents, nurses and midwives.

Afghanistan continues to suffer persistent multifaceted crises that have left nearly two-thirds of the population living in multi-dimensional poverty and over half in need of humanitarian assistance. Meanwhile, many essential health sector workers left the country after August 2021, and restrictions on women and girls’ education jeopardize the sustainability of the health workforce. As a result, many Afghans struggle to afford healthcare and public services are failing to meet the population’s immense needs.

The EU’s funding contributes to EMERGENCY’s continuous training of hundreds of local medical staff across its free health facilities in Kabul, Helmand (Lashkar-Gah) and Panjshir (Anabah). It builds on and complements the long standing EU support through ECHO aid seeking to bridge the humanitarian – basic human needs divide.