Aid Agencies: 2013 Won't be a Good Year for Humanitarian Relief in Afghanistan

Over a decade of foreign occupation still not yielding encouraging results

DUBAI, 2 January 2013 (IRIN)—More violence and a worsening humanitarian situation are likely in Afghanistan in 2013, say aid agencies.

"The worsening conflict trends over the last five years indicate that civilians will continue to suffer because of armed violence and that the humanitarian situation will deteriorate," says the new Common Humanitarian Action Plan (CHAP) for 2013, published by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The report brings together the major humanitarian challenges facing the country in 2013, a year that will see the continued withdrawal of international forces: Afghan security forces will take control of three-quarters of the country by June.