Kabul, 9 January 2022 (TDI): Seventeen babies whose elbows touched each other were in one of Kabul’s hospitals. As nurses rushed by, some of the babies were crying and wriggling. The silent rib cages of these creatures were raised and lowered on their pale blue and grey skins. This description was not part of a tragedy novel for the eighteenth century. This was the situation in Afghanistan 2 days ago.
Generally, when an infant reaches the neonatal intensive care unit, he or she weighs less than 4 pounds. The malnutrition of pregnant women in Afghanistan is contributing to premature births due to a lack of nutrients.
There is a link between a poor diet and the inability to breastfeed. According to Doctor Abdul Jabar, there are many premature babies born every year. Of these, a small number survive. Some not. “
In the ICU, faeces stains on some of the sheets. and the mothers were staring at their babies wide-eyed. During the time that the mother was singing lullabies, she gently kissed her child as she sang lullabies to him. There were also people running in the hallway outside the room, there was a life they trying to save.
An estimated third of the children admitted to the units that are in charge of the admission of children do not survive. they don’t have the equipment they don’t have medication they lack essential needs for any hospital. the sound of running was silent, and the faces were filled with sadness, which became a feature on the faces of afghanis.
United nations news today :
In Afghanistan, both the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are responsible for providing timely winter assistance to the most vulnerable displaced families.
Through its multipurpose cash assistance program, the UNHCR provides ongoing assistance to assist people with their urgent needs for warmth and security.
According to the tweet, the agency requires sustained support.
Heavy snowfall and rain have affected many parts of Afghanistan in the past 24 hours.
The harsh winter is compounding the severe conditions that many people are facing.
We are racing against time to deliver aid and supplies.https://t.co/sh03OD1Q6p
— UN Humanitarian (@UNOCHA) January 4, 2022
In addition, Ezatullah Noori, the national emergency coordinator for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Afghanistan, noted that this is the third drought season in the past five years.
However, If the agriculture sector is not supported promptly, we may lose an important pillar of the Afghan economy.
Moreover, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov, said that Afghans face a double threat: drought and conflict. “We are dealing here with a combination of displacement caused by war and military hostilities, as well as displacement caused by drought and adverse economic conditions,” Alakbarov said.
Hope or Despair
The snow-covered roads will likely result in an increase in food insecurity in the coming months, according to Oli Brown, an associate fellow at Chatham House. He emphasized that, without a functioning system of governance, there would be no safety net before the snowfall.
Moreover, the Afghans have been caught in a vicious cycle of conflict and climate change for over forty years. The scarcity of water and land has resulted in conflict, poverty, and instability at the community level, leading to environmental degradation and resource depletion. According to Brown, “one creates conditions for the other.”
Almost 23 million Afghans suffer from food insecurity, according to the UN World Food Program (WFP). A severe food shortage affects nearly nine million Afghans. About 5% of the population has access to adequate nutrition.
Several factors are responsible for this phenomenon, including natural disasters, such as droughts and floods, conflict, and economic hardship.
Due to this year’s drought, Afghanistan produced significantly less wheat (2.5 million tons). World Bank statistics show that more than half of Afghans live below the poverty line, living on less than $1 a day.
3.2 million children may suffer acute malnutrition due to winter by the end of 2021, and 1 million may die as a result.
Furthermore, the International Forum for Rights and Security, a Canadian think tank, reports that acute hunger is also forcing families to resort to desperate measures, such as selling their children.
Provided aid in numbers.
In Afghanistan, humanitarian partners have reached over 1 million since September 1, 2021
- Food assistance recipients. 9 million people.
- Malnourished children receiving treatment. 201K people.
- Healthcare is available too. 4 million people.
- people can receive winterization assistance. 110, 000 people.
- Total recipients of the relief efforts: 13,320,000.00 recipients.
Increasing scale
However, after Taliban forces took over the government of Afghanistan last August, several governments and international organizations suspended aid and frozen assets as a result of this political takeover. This led to a deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
It was earlier this month that the Security Council adopted a resolution allowing aid to reach Afghans who require critical assistance. According to the head of OCHA, this is an important milestone that may effectively save lives in the future.
Simultaneously, humanitarian agencies are scrambling to deliver supplies and aid as quickly as possible to fulfil their commitments to scale up their operations.
As per Dujarric’s official statement, our humanitarian partners adequately provided food supplies for seven million local people across the country in December.
Additionally, in some essential parts of the country, there is also assistance for winterization, such as cash and non-food items.
In 2021, the global humanitarian community contributed $1.5 billion to two appeals, with $776 million going to the Flash Appeal launched in September by the Secretary-general and $730 million contributing to the Humanitarian Response Plan.
Afghanistan’s ongoing humanitarian crisis is exacerbated by the harsh winter.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) report that several areas have been hard hit by heavy snow and rain in the past 24 hours, causing flight disruptions to and from Kabul Airport.
Moreover, during the daily briefing for journalists at the UN headquarters in New York, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric stated that there would be more snow and low temperatures in the coming days.
The food distribution line:
In an extended line of Afghan families waiting for food distribution, the humanitarian personnel begin to educate them on the purpose of the distribution and the registration system.
The youngsters were sobbing, their faces were famished, and the weather was bitterly frosty. At that time, the bodies began to shake. Nobody knew if it was from the cold or if their bodies were reminding them that they are still alive.
Although many people in this line are unfamiliar with the food delivery system. In fact, for the majority of them, it is a relatively emergent phenomenon. Afghanistan is facing pressure to survive in such weather.
They find themselves in the midst of a period marked by hunger and terror. Although people are unsure where hope may be found or if life can return to being normal.
Their minds are racing with a million and one questions, many of which revolve around their children and their future.
However, all that the humanitarian workers could do was to inform them, “This is how you register,” “This is your legal right.” Here are the guidelines you must follow. No one, not even the humanitarian workers, could respond to their questions about the future.
The humanitarian personnel listened to people’s voices; they could hear the fear in their voices. When you’re in need of help and don’t know when your next meal will arrive or how you’ll provide the essential needs for your children and yourself, who do you turn to for help?
The people of Afghanistan are worried about their future and their lives. Now is the time where all states should come together and make a unilateral effort to protect the Afghan people.
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