Genoa – About a fifth of families in Afghanistan have been forced to send their children to work, due to the collapse in incomes in the last six months, and about a million children are now involved in child labor: this is revealed by an unprecedented research by Save the Childrenthe organization that has been fighting for over 100 years to save girls and boys at risk and guarantee them a future.
After years of war, fear and suffering, the conditions of children in Afghanistan have deteriorated further since last August. 2 million minors they were already suffering from malnutrition and within a few weeks, hundreds of thousands of them were also forced to flee their homes. Many have found themselves living on the streets, without food, protection and in sanitary conditions terrible, while more and more families are forced to take extreme actions in order to feed their children. Even to sell them out of hunger.
Today the situation is very serious. 5 million children are on the brink of famine and the severe economic crisis threatens to leave more than 95% of the population in poverty and with a collapsing health system.
Clinics across the country have been forced to close as there is no more money to pay the wages of health workers. The collapse of health services is one of the direct consequences of the freezing of global resources and the suspension of development aid. When sick children need treatment, they only find closed doors and empty pharmacies.
To cope with this dramatic situation, Save the Children launches a petition to ask the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to unlock vital funding for the country.
Why shouldn’t a child go to work instead of school, just as a parent should never be faced with the decision to give up. a son because he does not know how to feed or cure him. You can access and sign the petition to ensure the humanitarian aid they urgently need for Afghan children on the page: www.savethechildren.it/firmaperlafghanistan
The Save the Children investigation
A survey of 1,400 families in seven provinces of Afghanistan found that since the collapse of the former government and the transition of power last August, 82% of them lost their income and 18% said they had no choice but to send their children to work.
According to estimates released today by Save the Children, if only one child in each of these families he is sent to work, more than a million children in the country would be involved in child labor.
One third (34.8%) of the families interviewed lost entirely your income, while for more than a quarter (26.6%) the revenues more than halved. Families living in the cities were the hardest hit, half of those in Kabul said they did having lost all income.
The sharp rise in prices caused by the economic crisis prevents many families from being able to buy food.
About 36% reported that they are buying food on credit at the market, while 24% said they are have done this previously. Almost 4 out of 10 families (equal to 39% of those interviewed), borrow food from the more affluent, compared to 25% who did it previously.
While families collapse further into debt and poverty, one in 13 Afghans (or 7.5% of respondents) said they already beg or rely on charity to feed loved ones.
Last week Save the Children spoke to Laila, 12, who lives with her mother and four siblings in a refugee camp in the province of Balkh since his father was killed. Before Save the Children helped her, Laila cleaned houses for the equivalent of about 10 cents a day. Her sister of hers 15 years is still going to work.
Laila said: “When I worked in people’s homes, it was very difficult. I went to work from morning to night. I worked because I had to. I went to take home 10 Afghans ($ 0.10) and I bought tea for my family ”.
Laila’s mother *, Shugofa *, 36, said: “What can I feel when a piece of my heart turns off and work for others? But what can I do? It pained me to see my daughter working cleaning people’s garbage and dirt. Without a householder and with five children without a father, you can imagine how difficult it is … Sometimes we only eat once a day, and other times we eat bread alone, three times a day. I make children eat less or once a day so that the food last one day longer. And we cook smaller quantities, to avoid running out of food for the next day. My children are weak and thinthe”.
In the wake of conflict, economic free fall and price spiral, a brutal wave of hunger and hardship overwhelmed Afghanistan. This winter, 14 million children are likely to face potentially life-threatening levels of hunger and malnutrition rates are soaring.
Last month Save the Children reported that the number of dangerously malnourished children visitors to its clinics has more than doubled since August.
The director of Save the Children in Afghanistan, Chris Nyamandi, stated in summary: “We treat frighteningly sick children every day who have eaten nothing but bread for months. Parents must make impossible decisions: which of their children will they feed? Do they send their children to work or leave them to starve? “
And again: “There is no shortage of food here, the markets are full. Yet children are starving because their parents cannot afford to pay for food. But the truth is that humanitarian aid they can only go up to a certain point “.
This – invites Chris Nyamandi to reflect – is an economic crisis and needs an economic solution. Governments they must find a way to unlock vital funds and financial assets to prevent the crisis from developing further. “
Save the Children is providing to families money and winter kits with essential items to overcome the rigors of the season.
Cash assistance helps prevent families from resorting to desperate measures that adversely affect children like child laborearly marriages and the reduction of meals.
Since September 2021, Save the Children has reached 763,000 people, including 430,800 children, and provided more than 127,000 people with money transfers for their needs and cash for food.
Unlimited access to all site content
€ 1 / month for 3 months, then € 3.99 / month for 3 months
Unlock unlimited access to all content on the site
#Childhood #denied #million #children #forced #work #Afghanistan #Save #children #launches #petition