Afghanistan has suffered three decades of conflict resulting in massive displacement of its people, including millions who have fled to Pakistan. In 2008, resurgent Taliban activity, drought, failed crops and rising food and fuel prices have combined to threaten an even more deadly humanitarian crisis.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) first worked with Afghan refugees in Pakistan following the Soviet invasion in 1979. Following the withdrawal of troops in 1988, the IRC began operations in Afghanistan itself and has remained in the country ever since.

We are a leading facilitating partner of the Afghan Government's National Solidarity Programme, laying the foundations for community-level governance by helping communities identify, plan and manage their own development projects.

We are establishing community-based schools in rural areas, raising awareness of the rights and needs of children (especially the disabled) and, with long-established local partners, providing vulnerable women and men with vocational education and training.

We continue to help provide water, sanitation and shelter to the several million refugees steadily returning from Pakistan and Iran, including many who have not been in Afghanistan for decades.

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On 13 August 2008, four International Rescue Committee aid workers were murdered by the Taliban in Logar province while returning from an education project. They were Mohammad Aimal, Shirley Case, Nicole Dial and Jackie Kirk. The IRC remains committed to the people of Afghanistan with whom it has worked in both Pakistan and Afghanistan for nearly 30 years.