Dina Mahmoud (Kabul, London)
In light of the intensification of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan in light of the extreme cold that prevails in its lands during the winter season, in conjunction with the continuing decline in relief aid reaching it, experts in Afghan affairs warn of the danger of the escalation of the economic, living and societal crises that are ravaging this country, and the consequences of this on its citizens. .
The continuing fluctuations in the political arena in Kabul, and the accompanying security unrest and transformations at the social level, have pushed about half of the population, numbering more than 40 million people, into poverty, primarily due to the lack of job opportunities. It has also created systemic challenges that impede… The work of Afghan government institutions.
At the same time, ongoing relief activities in Afghanistan face a deep funding gap, amounting to an estimated $1.8 billion, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. While the budget for these activities was sufficient in 2021 to meet 97% of the requirements and needs of Afghans, the percentage of those needs being met decreased sharply last year, reaching no more than 44% of them.
In parallel, widespread poverty and shrinking livelihoods have led Afghans in almost all provinces to face a state of severe food insecurity, to the point where a third of them do not know where they will get their next meal, as the World Food Program confirmed earlier in the year. This month.
Program officials acknowledge that the “massive lack of funding” makes their United Nations agency unable to provide its assistance except to the families most suffering from hunger, in order to enable them to survive during the current winter, by granting them the absolute minimum. Amid confirmation that the World Food Program now urgently needs $670 million to provide approximately 15.2 million Afghans with life-saving supplies that will support livelihoods, there are increasing indications that the deteriorating economic situation has led to an expansion of the child labor phenomenon that they are now suffering from. Almost a third of Afghan children are young today.
According to a report published on the website of the CNBC TV 18 television network, international reports show that the restrictions imposed on Afghan women in the areas of work and education have led to about 64,000 of them suffering from unemployment, in addition to halting the educational process of another 3,000 women.
These restrictions also indirectly led to the introduction of more children into the labor market, to replace women who were excluded from it, in light of international warnings that prohibiting women from being fully employed or employed may lead to a reduction in per capita income in Afghanistan. By approximately half.
Observers stressed that the combination of these factors puts Afghanistan now at a crossroads, given also the decline in the volume of its trade exchange with its neighbors, such as what World Bank data indicate, of a decline in Afghan coal exports, by approximately 43%, during the period between the months of Last January and October.
#Hunger #threatens #Afghans #provinces