Afghanistan to face crisis-level hunger this winter as UK slashes aid by more than half

With the winter season approaching, it is estimated that about one in three children in Afghanistan will be affected by crisis-level hunger as the United Kingdom cut down on its aid for the Taliban-ruled country by approximately 60 per cent this year.

As per the latest figures released by the global hunger monitoring system Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), almost eight million children in the war-torn country will step into the new year without sufficient food and will have to live without ample winter clothing in freezing conditions.

The families are worried about the survival of their kids as last year the cold winter claimed the lives of at least 160 people in the country where the temperatures dropped to minus 37 degrees Celsius.

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“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,” the Independent quoted resident Aslam, who is the father of three currently living in a tent, as saying.

“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 according to the Independent.

Hundreds of Afghans who have been forced to flee Pakistan since October this year, are at present surviving in makeshift camps and are being taken care of by humanitarian aid workers.

The health workers are also making efforts 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, as per the Independent.

“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,” the Independent quotes him as saying.

The United Kingdom had slashed the aid for Afghanistan in the month of May this year by more than half, directly hitting the Afghans who were benefitting from the international funding.

(With inputs from agencies)