Priority Areas of Return and Reintegration (PARRs)
Priority Areas of Return and Reintegration (PARRs)
UNHCR has developed PARRs programmes under the umbrella of the regional Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees (SSAR), the framework for protection and solutions for Afghan refugees to support voluntary repatriation, sustainable reintegration, and assistance to host countries. They are fully aligned with and embedded in the 2023 United Nations Strategic Framework for Afghanistan and promote collaboration and synergy among humanitarian and basic human needs actors, bridging the gap and ensuring a more effective and sustainable solution to displacement challenges.
Through their inclusive, “whole-of-community” focused design, the PARRs are also an example of the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) in action. By applying an area-based, “whole-of-community” approach and supporting the entire population in an area, including host communities, their ability to welcome forcibly displaced people and returnees is strengthened.
In PARR areas, projects aim to enhance access to education, healthcare, shelter, key community-based projects to facilitate access to public services and livelihoods’ opportunities, provide cash assistance and in-kind support to vulnerable families. UNHCR’s programmes also facilitate access to land, documentation, social services, self-reliance, and inclusion in decision-making structures. Through this holistic approach, interventions improve the lives of Afghans, building resilience and self-sufficiency.
Protection is at the core of the PARRs, ensuring that every intervention is guided by the fundamental principle of safeguarding the rights and dignity of forcibly displaced populations and host communities.
In view of the situation in Afghanistan, the empowerment of women, in line with the Sustainable Development Goal 5 to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, is the cross-cutting theme in all UNHCR interventions in Afghanistan, including the PARRs. This is done by recognizing the unique challenges faced by women through an age, gender and diversity (AGD) approach. Further to mainstreaming, UNHCR has prioritised the design and delivery of programming by women and for women and the prioritization of women in beneficiary selection, financial inclusion, technical and vocational education, all of which grounded in the accountability to affected people (AAP) framework. UNHCR’s existing strength in community-based protection and Communication with Communities (CwC) is key to maintaining close contact with women and girls. Through this approach, support is delivered directly to the communities and individuals.
