In 2026, monitoring will remain a core function of the Afghanistan HPC under the leadership of the HCT and based on the technical guidance of the ICCT, ensuring that humanitarian assistance is timely, needs-based, accountable and focused on populations facing the most severe risks. Monitoring will track cluster-specific outputs, outcomes and inter-sectoral reach, excluding BHN activities, and will assess the alignment between severity, response coverage and community priorities.
Situational monitoring
OCHA, in close collaboration with the Assessment and Analysis Working Group (AAWG) and ICCT, will continue to lead systematic situational monitoring to track evolving humanitarian needs, sectoral trends and emerging risks. Core analytical processes will include the annual WoAA (conducted in Q3/Q4), bi-annual IPC analyses, quarterly Humanitarian Situation Monitoring (HSM), monthly shock monitoring index (SMI), Afghanistan Climate Vulnerability Assessment (ACVA), seasonal food security assessments, the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), and rapid multi-sector needs assessments. Cross-border movement monitoring will remain a critical component of situational analysis, particularly for tracking return and displacement dynamics from Iran and Pakistan, and for informing the targeting and prioritised assistance for displaced and returning populations.
These will be complemented by sectoral and community-level systems, including the Awaaz Community Voices and Accountability Platform, Community-Based Protection Monitoring (CBPM), Child Protection Information Management System Plus (CPIMS+), health outbreak surveillance, Community Nutrition Sentinel Site Surveillance (CNSS), Integrated Context Analysis (ICA), Joint Market Monitoring Initiative (JMMI), WASH Information Management dashboards and Standardized Monitoring and Assessment of Relief and Transitions (SMART) surveys. Together, these tools provide a multi-sector evidence base for understanding changes in needs, severity and vulnerability.
In October 2025, following the integration of cluster revisions and piloting, the ICCT endorsed the Community Rapid Needs Assessment (CRNA) tool as the agreed standard common tool for rapid needs assessments in sudden on-set emergencies. The CRNA will generate timely, standardised data on immediate humanitarian needs to inform initial decision-making. In close coordination with IOM, OCHA, REACH and UNICEF, regional-level CRNA trainings are underway, with full national rollout expected in 2026.
For the drought anticipatory action framework, the established forecast model, which draws on seasonal rainfall projections, observed rainfall, snow cover and vegetative health indicators, will continue to monitor and inform early action to mitigate drought impacts in districts across the agreed scope of the four high-risk provinces of Badakhshan, Faryab, Sar-e-Pul and Takhar. The ICCT will review the evolution on inter-sectoral severity of needs on a quarterly basis to track deterioration or improvement and guide prioritisation adjustments.
Risk monitoring
Effective risk monitoring will be essential to anticipate disruptions to the humanitarian response and strengthen preparedness. In 2026, partners will continue to monitor access constraints, security developments, border closures and supply chain disruptions that may affect operational feasibility.
Monitoring of partner presence and geographical access will support realistic response planning and ensure that targets remain aligned with evolving operational conditions.
The ICCT will maintain quarterly tracking of key humanitarian supply pipelines at national and regional levels to identify bottlenecks, mitigate stock gaps and minimise interruptions in the delivery of life-saving assistance. Dry spell monitoring and anticipatory action triggers will continue to inform early preparedness and response measures in drought-affected areas.
Response monitoring
A central focus of the 2026 response monitoring framework will be the systematic analysis of response delivery against inter-sectoral severity of needs.
Monitoring data will be routinely overlaid with the 2026 inter-sectoral severity classification to assess whether assistance is reaching populations facing the most acute life threatening risks.
This analysis will allow the HCT and clusters to identify geographic and population-level mismatches between needs and response, support corrective action and reinforce the prioritisation of inter-sector severity 4 locations in line with HCT strategic direction.
Response monitoring will continue to focus on strengthening operational coordination through improved visibility of partner presence, activities and coverage. OCHA, in consultation with Cluster Coordinators and implementing partners, will introduce ActivityInfo, a new response monitoring tool to systematise district-level 5W reporting. This platform will enable more consistent tracking of activities, geographical coverage and operational presence, strengthen evidence-based coordination and facilitate the identification of gaps, overlaps and underserved areas.
The OCHA Information Management Unit will consolidate district-level data from clusters and partners to produce national response overviews, partner presence and operational access snapshots. These products will directly inform the Humanitarian Dashboard narrative updates and pipeline and stock monitoring reports produced in collaboration with the ICCT quarterly.
Bi-annual analyses of response gaps and critical funding shortfalls will support the mid-year and end-year strategic reviews of the HCT, ensuring that reprioritisation is guided by severity of needs, coverage, and operational feasibility.
Cross-cutting issues and inclusiveness of humanitarian programming
In line with commitments to accountability to affected people, response monitoring in 2026 will systematically integrate community feedback and perceptions of assistance. Monitoring data will be analysed alongside crisis-affected people’s stated priorities and preferences to assess whether humanitarian assistance is aligned with their most urgent needs.
Community feedback mechanisms, including the Afghanistan Community Voices and Accountability Platform in addition to Community Voices Bulletins and GiHA WG’s gender alerts will continue to inform both strategic and operational adjustments. Regular feedback on service quality, accessibility, safety, and relevance will be reviewed alongside response data to support adaptive programming and timely course correction.
Gender-, age-, and disability-disaggregated data will be systematically tracked to assess both the reach and effectiveness of the response for vulnerable groups, including women, girls, adolescents and persons with disabilities. The active engagement of women and persons with disabilities in assessments, consultations and feedback mechanisms will continue to be prioritised to ensure their safe and meaningful participation. Humanitarian actors will continue to rely on multi-hazard early warning systems, including FEWS NET, FAO agro-climatic monitoring, World Meteorological Organization seasonal forecasts, IPC analyses, IOM displacement tracking, WHO disease surveillance, REACH SMI and national hydrometeorological data, to activate early action where feasible.
Situation and response monitoring products and timeline (2026)
To support predictable, timely, and actionable decision-making, response monitoring in 2026 will follow a structured annual cycle of information products for operational coordination and strategic oversight.
Monthly
- District-level response monitoring updates via ActivityInfo
- National response overviews
- Humanitarian Dashboard updates
Quarterly
- Humanitarian Dashboard narrative updates
- Pipeline and stock monitoring reports
- Partner presence and operational access snapshots
Bi-annual
IPC analyses after the lean season and
after the harvest
- Mid-year and end-year response gap and critical funding gap analyses for Humanitarian Country Team strategic reviews
- Humanitarian access severity mapping
Annual
- Whole of Afghanistan Assessment
