Background and Objectives:
In urban Afghanistan, human insecurity is expressed in a variety of ways - poverty, social exclusion of women and certain ethnic groups, unjust application of rules and regulations (land issues in particular), and unequal access to urban services.

As in other developing countries, a great number of urban Afghans live in informal or unplanned settlements. This means that these settlements have not developed according to a master plan and hence are not considered ‘legal’.

As a result, people are uncertain of their future and are fearful that their houses may be demolished or they will be forcibly evicted or resettled. In addition, urban areas can be insecure as crime is more commonplace than in rural areas. Poor environmental conditions, competitive working environments and higher cost of living force many Afghans to live in situations where their human security is perpetually and systematically undermined.

The aim of this project Upgrading of Informal Settlements, abbreviated as UIS 3 Cities, is to increase protection against menaces which threaten human security of vulnerable groups living in informal settlements including returnees, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) vulnerable families and widow-headed households. This is done by addressing the needs for secure tenure, shelter, and basic services.

Activities:
The main activities include:

• Assisting in shelter construction for vulnerable families;
• Installing basic services and community infrastructure;
• Assisting communities in creating employment opportunities for sustainable livelihoods;
• Empowering communities, especially women, through mobilization, organization and training;
• Establishing Community Development Councils (CDCs);
• Securing tenure land regularization and registration.

Results:

• Infrastructure and service related sub-contract projects: Kandahar-14, Mazar-32, and Jalalabad-15. Women’s projects are 14, 19, and 14, for each city respectively;
• Public roads widened with families giving up portions of their own properties;
• 48 Community Development Councils formed while the same number of Community Action Plans (CAPs) were prepared in all three cities;
• A series of training conducted on subjects such as: procurement, stock keeping, labour and financial management, supervision and monitoring, and preparation reports;
• Human Security Fund staff and Community Development Councils members (in all three cities) trained on appropriate management of solid waste and implementation of eco-toilet.