DCA Special Newsletter

DCA has Recently Launched Significant Interventions in Afghanistan

15 New Paravets Graduate from DCA-Charikar, Adding to 1,500 Nationwide.

On May 16, 2024, the Dutch Committee for Afghanistan (DCA) organized a graduation ceremony for the 15 new veterinary paraprofessionals/paravets in the Inter-Continental Hotel, Kabul City, who had recently completed the six-months intensive practical and theoretical course as part of DCA’s IFAD/Crisis Response Initiatives (CRI) project.  Kits were distributed to all the freshly graduated trainees for them to provide and deliver quality veterinary services to pastoralists and local herders in the underserved and remote areas of the country.“During the six-month theoretical and practical training, I learned a lot in terms of disease prevention, control measures, treatment,and many other topics.”  I learned a lot in terms of disease prevention, control measures, treatment, and many other topics.”

                                         stated a recently graduated Paravet, beaming with satisfaction. The graduation certificates were distributed to the freshly graduated paravets. They were happy to return to their home provinces and districts to provide quality animal health and veterinary services to the vulnerable pastoralists and local herders. They appreciated the Dutch Committee for Afghanistan (DCA) for providing and facilitating such an opportunity.

DCA at Afghanistan’s 30^th Annual Ag-Fair 2024

The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock (MAIL) organizes and conducts an Ag-Fair every spring and autumn to showcase agriculture and livestock goods and to share new agricultural ideas. The event focuses on promoting business-to-business and business-to-customer linkages providing high-quality livestock products and services, food preservation, and the cultivation of seeds. During this Spring Agricultural Fair held at Badam Bagh from May 1-4, 2024, the Dutch Committee for Afghanistan (DCA) supported five livestock booths and one Kuchi tent. At one of the five booths, the women were practicing wool spinning, for the first time at such Ag-Fair. During the event, DCA used livestock-related equipment and samples of the inputs distributed to beneficiaries to demonstrate its interventions. This included dairy processing machinery, veterinary field unit kits, feed banks, spinning wool, and extension packages. In addition, a tent featuring the Kuchi lifestyle, informative booths manned by male and female staff who provided comprehensive verbal information on backyard poultry, stop shops, dairy processing, kitchen garden, fodder crops, equine welfare, concentrate animal feed, quality medicines, vaccines and dewormers to around 2,000 visitors. 

6.5 Million Animals to Receive Deworming and Vaccinations in Afghanistan, 2024

On April 29, 2024, the Dutch Committee for Afghanistan (DCA) launched  deworming and  vaccination campaigns in the Char Asiab district, Qala-e-Safed area of Kabul province. The DCA’s program director, along with the staff, MAIL and other government structures participated in this event.  These campaigns are carried out by private paravets trained and established by DCA and assist in preventing economic losses for impoverished rural herders and pastoralists throughout the year. Such campaigns focus on protecting and preventing animals from various viral and bacterial diseases through vaccination; while deworming prevents and controls internal parasites. During 2024, DCA anticipates providing deworming and vaccinations to over 6.5 million animals across Afghanistan’s 30 provinces and 340 districts. These campaigns are carried out twice a year by the Veterinary Field Units (VFUs, private sector) trained and established by DCA in Afghanistan during spring and autumn seasons.