We cannot forget Afghan children
It has been one year since the Afghan government collapsed. A year since the Taliban abruptly seized control of the country and for most Afghans, it has been a year full of change and hardship.
Almost overnight, the lives of boys and girls in Afghanistan were turned upside down; access to learning became limited, especially for girls, the banking sector collapsed, and withdrawal of development assistance quickly threw the country into an economic crisis. Worst of all, a disastrous hunger crisis deepened by drought and rising food prices, has seen nearly 10 million children suffer from acute food insecurity in the past year.
While child malnutrition has been a problem in Afghanistan for a long time, current levels of food insecurity are unprecedented. In some provinces, like Nangahar, 99.5% of children reported a decrease in food intake. The situation is worsened for children due to a measles outbreak which targets the body’s immune system. For babies already suffering from malnutrition, this can be a deadly blow.
Children have described many changes to their nutrition; from eating fewer meals, smaller meals, and sometimes only eating one full meal a week. In some cases, children would only eat a full meal once a month. The types of meals they eat has also changed. Before, Afghan children enjoyed a diet of meat and fish, eggs, vegetables and fruits on a regular basis. Now, their meals will only consist of bread and tea, and every once in a while, potatoes or rice.
Older siblings are more likely to miss meals to ensure their younger siblings can eat, and two thirds of Afghan girls have described missing meals to benefit their brothers and male peers.
Parishad*, a fifteen year old Afghan girl, says she doesn’t go to school because their parents cannot afford to feed her and her siblings, let alone pay for her books and materials.
“Some days my father cannot bring food. My brothers wake up at midnight and cry for food. I don’t eat, and I save my food for my brothers and sisters. When my brothers and sisters ask for food, I get upset and cry a lot. I go to my neighbour’s house and ask for food. Sometimes they’ll help and give me food and sometime they say they don’t have anything to give me.” Parishad describes.
Parishad is not alone in these experiences. Many children in our recent report, Breaking Point: Children’s lives one year under Taliban rule, describe the food insecurity they face, and how it has impacted every aspect of their lives.
With the economic collapse following the Taliban takeover, 96% of families lost at least some of their incomes and are now unable to provide for their children. More and more, the rising costs of food and cooking supplies has meant that families cannot afford these items. When faced with the difficult choice of buying food or sending their children to school, most parents or caretakers withdraw them from school.
Struggling to make ends meet, many children go to work with their parent or siblings, devastated that they can no longer study. But even then, acute malnutrition has made it difficult for children to do their work or chores properly.
Here are some of the statistics for children experiencing hunger in Afghanistan:
- About 9.6 million children in Afghanistan are facing high acute food insecurity.
- 88% of children reported a reduction in food intake over the last year/
- 1 in 10 newborn Afghan babies born since January 2022 have died due to hunger-related diseases.
- 1 in 10 children frequently go to bed hungry at night; nearly 2/3s of these children are girls (62%)
- 4,214 children with severe acute malnutrition were admitted to hospitals in December 2021, in comparison to the 2,407 children admitted in August 2021
- 25 out of 34 provinces in Afghanistan are experiencing acute malnutrition above emergency thresholds
Food assistance has become the lifeline for many Afghans, and even then, hunger still persists at unprecedented levels. As the winter approaches, getting food into Afghanistan is becoming an increasingly urgent task. Despite being aware of this, the Government of Canada is currently impending the delivery of life-saving aid to Afghans from Canadian NGOs and humanitarian organizations. This is because Canada is sticking to a much stricter line than other countries when it comes to international sanctions against the Taliban and the role of humanitarian aid.
Save the Children Canada has aligned with other humanitarian organizations to launch the #AidForAfghanistan campaign. The campaign is calling the Canadian government to remove the barriers that have blocked us from providing this aid.
You can take action today by writing to your Member of Parliament through aidforafghanistan.ca, and help us address the hunger crisis in Afghanistan.
*Name changed to protect privacy
By: Andrea Gonzalez
Sources:
Breaking Point: Children’s lives one year under Taliban rule |Save the Children
Delivering for the children of Afghanistan | UNICEF
The tragedy of Afghanistan’s malnourished children | BBC News
Time running out to address Afghanistan’s hunger crisis | HRW