1 in 3 children in Afghanistan face crisis-level hunger after UK slashes aid

Humanitarian aid workers struggling to protect children inside refugee tents amid biting cold in Afghanistan

One in three children in Afghanistan will be the victim of crisis-level hunger with winter approaching as the UK slashes aid to the war-torn country by almost 60 per cent this year.

This makes for almost eight million children in the Taliban-ruled country who will enter 2024 without having enough to eat and will have to live the next three months in freezing conditions without ample clothing, on top of already being battered by earthquakes, drought, food scarcity, and a collapsed economy, according to the latest figures by global hunger monitoring system Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

Parents of these children are worried about their survival as they brace for a winter like last year’s when at least 160 people died when tempatures plummeted to minus 37 degrees Celsius.

“Our homes are not usable, and we don’t know how we can survive this winter. The winter is approaching and it is too cold in these places. It will be covered with snow for weeks, the ways to travel will be blocked and these areas will be freezing,” said Aslam*, a 30-year-old father of three in Herat who is currently housing his family in a tent that was previously used for animals.

Talking to the non-profit Save the Children, he said his only source of livelihood to keep his family afloat – his livestock – was not expected to survive the brutal temperatures. These families, devastated and homeless by the earthquake, remain without compensation, relief, or relocation by the country’s de facto rulers.

“Sometimes we don’t have bread to eat, and we sleep hungry. Seeing my child getting weak day by day and crying for food is devastating,” said Salma*, a mother of a seven-month-old infant who had to rush her child to a clinic run by the UK-based humanitarian organisation.

Millions of Afghans, including those who have been forced to flee Pakistan since October, are now in makeshift camps and at the mercy of humanitarian aid workers.

Doctors are fighting to keep respiratory diseases at bay.

“Our physicians reported that it gets cold at night, and it is difficult to ensure the well-being of children inside the tents,” said Arshad Malik, the country director of Save the Children, heading operations in Afghanistan.

“This problem can negatively affect the health of both the child and the mother. We are afraid that the severe respiratory infections are highly likely due to prolonged exposure to dust storms, enclosed smoky shelters, other sick people, and extremely cold weather, as many families have travelled to Afghanistan in open, overcrowded trucks,” he told The Independent.

In May, the UK slashed aid for Afghanistan by more than half, directly hitting the Afghans who were benefitting from the international funding. The UK was expected to provide £100m in humanitarian assistance, as opposed to £246m from the previous year, according to the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI).

Mr Malik said the UK’s decision to slash aid to Afghanistan by almost 60 per cent this year could not have come at a worse time. “Despite the dire level of need, Afghanistan is now at risk of becoming another of the world’s forgotten crises,” the humanitarian charity warned, asking UK to step up its aid in the coming year.

Millions of Afghans who returned from Pakistan face homelessness, poverty, and diseases on top of an uncertain fate under the Taliban regime. Of these, women and children are the most vulnerable, who are now showing the inevitable symptoms of trauma and distress.

“Many returnee families have found they have nowhere to live and no money for food and are staying in basic shelters in a desperate and worsening situation,” Mr Malik said. He added that the majority of assisted returnees are children and adolescents, accounting for about 62 per cent of the total population. Additionally, 48 per cent of the returnees are female.

Pregnant and lactating women are unable to cope as services are insufficient for returnees who are being asked to rush to the nearest health centres, which are very far from the location of refugee camps set up on the border areas. “There is an urgent need to provide warm clothes for children, as well as necessary items such as sanitary pads and items for personal hygiene for young women. These items are essential to reduce the health risks that affect women and children,” Mr Malik said.

In October, around 13.1 million people – around 29 per cent of the population – faced high levels of acute food insecurity as the Taliban are yet to revive the economy of Afghanistan.

While a Taliban committee said it is distributing food, water, SIM cards, clothing and cash at two key border crossings in Torkham and Spin Boldak, millions of families are yet to get respite from the crisis.

*Name changed to protect identities