Karte Naw

1. Community demographics

According to key informant interviews conducted with local authority figures, there are approximately 2000 families and 20,000 people in Karte Naw in Kabul based off estimations and municipality statistics. The neighbourhood has Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras and Uzbeks living there with Pashtuns composing the majority of the community. Dari and Pashtun are both in use but most people speak Dari. Mental health issues arising from suicide attacks, conflict and unemployment was cited as a major health concern.

Local authority figures could not readily ascertain IDP numbers in the community. A large part of the community was displaced from Karte Naw during the civil war when Abdul Dostum’s army were present in the area. An estimated 10,000 people are returnees from Pakistan and different Afghan provinces, and the number of returnees is increasing. Many community members own their houses and are not expected to leave Karte Naw, although key informants noted that people who are renting may move over the coming years.

2. Community geography

The neighbourhood of Karte Naw is located on flat ground south of Maranjan Hill in Kabul. The area is densely populated, with small lanes running between buildings. The houses are made from brick and concrete and are single or double-storey. Non-residential buildings include mosques, schools, universities and hospitals. There is piped water available, while some poorer households who cannot afford piped water have their own potable water wells.

3. Economic Profile

The occupation of Karte Naw community members is varied. People work as daily wage labourers in the construction industry, shopkeepers, tailors, carpenters, metalworkers and government officials. The majority of the community are daily wage labourers and because of construction slow-downs during winter, many try to obtain winter work in street vending.

Local authority figures said a limited number of women have businesses inside their homes including beauty parlours and tailoring.

4. Energy profile

The entire community have access to grid electricity provided by DABS. The price for households was said to have increased from 1.5 Afs per kWh to 2.5 Afs per kWh. The grid is considered unreliable, often experiencing long outages when people need to use it in cold weather. An electrical engineer noted that electricity was usually provided for 12 hours with outages for the other 12 hours, and that it was imported electricity in the winter with low voltage. A local authority figure noted the electricity is often weak and requires a stabiliser for water pumps and freezers.

Wealthier families purchase generators and/or solar systems for their lighting for when there are grid outages. Most people use LPG for cooking while some in the community use their bukhari wood heaters. Wood used in bukharies or sandalis is the most popular source of fuel for heating homes, with a very small minority using coal.