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	Conflict continues to inflict widespread civilian death and injury by Ramesh Rajasingham, Martin Griffiths, Jan Egeland UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs   May 2022 (UN News)   Conflict continues to inflict “widespread civilian death and injury” a senior UN official told the UN Security Council, outlining the “grim reality” for those caught up in the crossfire of war.   Updating the ambassadors on the latest UN report on protecting civilians in armed conflict, Ramesh Rajasingham, Director of the Coordination Division of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that hostilities in densely populated areas, “sharply” increased the risks of death and injury for civilians.   “When explosive weapons were used in populated areas, about 90 per cent of casualties were civilians, compared to 10 per cent in other areas”.   War damages and erodes critical infrastructure, by disrupting vital water, sanitation, electricity and health services, and puts education at risk – depriving hundreds of thousands of children of tuition, while rendering them vulnerable to forced recruitment, and other dangers.   “In the first nine months of last year, over 900 schools in Afghanistan were destroyed, damaged or closed and their rehabilitation hindered by explosive hazards,” he stated.   Conflict also damages the natural environment not just through fighting, but due to a lack of good governance and neglect.   “We are all too familiar with the cycle of violence and displacement, and 2021 was no exception,” said Mr. Rajasingham. “By midyear, fighting and insecurity had forcibly displaced 84 million people, with close to 51 million of them internally displaced”.   Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reported over the weekend that the Ukraine war and other conflicts have pushed the number of people forced to flee conflict, violence, human rights violations and persecution, to over 100 million, for the first time on record.   When civilians flee, they often left behind people with disabilities and those who manage to leave frequently confront difficulties in accessing assistance.   “More than one in five people living in conflict-affected areas were estimated to suffer from depression, anxiety and PTSD,” said the deputy humanitarian chief.   Medical workers, facilities, equipment and transport continued to come under attack, while parties to conflict interfered with medical care.   “In northern Ethiopia, healthcare facilities, equipment and transport were attacked and looted, and hospitals used for military purposes,” he elaborated.   And the pandemic has intensified human suffering and strained weakened healthcare services.   “Nearly three billion people are still waiting for their first vaccine, many of them in conflict situations where health systems are weak and public trust is low,” Mr. Rajasingham told the Council.   At the same time, parties to conflicts have heightened food insecurity by destroying supply chains, as aid workers continued to face complex challenges depriving civilians of life-saving assistance.   And as non-State armed groups further complicate humanitarian access negotiations, private military and security contractors have increasingly thrown up roadblocks for humanitarians desperately trying to deliver aid, said the deputy relief chief.   As sanctions and broad counterterrorism measures interfere with humanitarian work, misinformation and disinformation have eroded trust – putting humanitarians at risk of harm and further jeopardizing operations.   “When humanitarian activities were politicized, community acceptance was jeopardized,” detailed the OCHA chief. “Humanitarian staff were intimidated, arrested and detained while carrying out their functions.”   Last year, some 143 security incidents against humanitarian workers were recorded in 14 countries and territories affected by conflict, along with 93 humanitarian deaths. Of those killed, injured or kidnapped, 98 per cent were national staff.   In Ukraine: Suffering and loss   Since 24 February, OHCHR has recorded 8,089 civilian casualties in Ukraine, with 3,811 killed and 4,278 injured, although the actual casualties numbers are acknowledged as being most considerably higher.   Hospitals, schools, homes, and shelters have come under attack, 12 million have been forced from their homes, and tens of thousands of civilians remained trapped and cut off from food, water and electricity.   “The prospect of nuclear conflict, once unthinkable, is now back within the realm of possibility,” said the Deputy Relief Coordinator.   Turning to the war’s impact on exports, he said that food, fuel and fertilizer prices have skyrocketed globally – with increases of up to 30 per cent for staple foods affecting people across Africa and the Middle East – “hitting the poorest people the hardest…and planting the seeds for further political instability and unrest worldwide.”   Mr. Rajasingham underscored that all States and non-State actors must comply with international humanitarian law (IHL), including by avoiding explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas. He also upheld the need to integrate legal protections into military training, doctrine, and policy and legal frameworks. “Parties to conflict and States must apply much greater political will and commitment to respect the rules of war”.   The Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Robert Mardini, reminded ambassadors that humanitarian principles must never be compromised. Recalling that ICRC has been briefing the Council year after year on the circumstances of civilians, he argued that civilian protection should be made much more of a strategic priority by States, particularly “in populated areas, which includes avoiding the use of heavy explosive weapons.”   http://reliefweb.int/report/world/report-secretary-general-protection-civilians-armed-conflict-s2022381-enarruzh http://starvationaccountability.org/news-and-events/un-protection-of-civilians-week-address/ http://starvationaccountability.org/news-and-events/protection-of-civilians-four-years-on-from-the-adoption-of-unsc-resolution-2417/ http://bit.ly/3MSpxHz http://humanitarianaccess.acaps.org/   Aug. 2021   More must be done to protect humanitarians on the frontlines across the globe, underline Martin Griffiths and Jan Egeland.   As the world watches the crisis in Afghanistan, aid workers are staying to help while bracing for troubling times ahead. More must be done to protect humanitarians on the frontlines across the globe.   In June, two missiles hit one of the largest hospitals in northern Syria, killing 19 civilians, including three children and four humanitarian workers. An additional 11 hospital staff were injured.   Rockets hit the emergency room and delivery ward, reducing them to rubble. Parts of Al-Shifa’a hospital are still inoperable, and thousands of Syrians have been cut off from life-saving medical assistance.   Later that same month, three aid workers, clearly identified as working for an international aid organisation, were killed in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.   Tragically, attacks like these have become commonplace. Every week, humanitarian workers across the world are killed, injured, sexually assaulted, kidnapped or detained as they work to help the world’s most vulnerable people.   Humanitarian needs today are at a record high. Some 235 million people need aid across 56 countries. This is due to the crippling combined effects of prolonged conflict, the climate crisis and Covid-19.   But reported attacks on aid workers have increased almost tenfold over the past 20 years, according to Humanitarian Outcomes.   Last year, 475 aid workers were attacked and 108 of them killed in 41 countries – the vast majority of them national aid workers working on the front lines of conflicts.   Humanitarian groups are often forced to temporarily suspend activities or relocate staff, depriving communities of life-saving aid deliveries and protection.   Robust international laws of war exist to protect relief operations and aid workers, and facilitate aid reaching the people who need it to survive.   But too often fighting parties – both states and non-state armed groups – brazenly flout them. And when they do, they face few consequences.   As humanitarian needs soar, we need urgent action to get aid workers and supplies out of the line of fire, and ensure relief gets to where it’s needed.   Four ways to protect aid workers in conflict zones   First, states and non-state armed groups participating in armed conflict must live up to their fundamental obligations under international humanitarian law.   Experience shows that incorporating the laws of war in training and the rules of engagement for armies and armed groups works. As does adopting strong military policy and practice to ensure civilians and humanitarian access are protected.   States have many means of influence to get conflict parties to respect international humanitarian and human rights laws, ranging from political dialogue to withholding arms transfers where there is a clear risk that the arms will be used to commit serious violations of those laws. They need to consistently apply them.   Second, allegations of serious violations of international humanitarian law must be systematically and independently investigated, and perpetrators held to account. War crimes that go unpunished embolden perpetrators to commit further violations.   Third, governments must recognise the need for humanitarian organisations to neutrally engage with all parties, including non-state armed groups, to safely help people in need.   This means that humanitarian organisations must be able to speak to whoever controls territories where populations are in need, so families living in areas under their control can receive humanitarian assistance.   A 2016 study commissioned by the aid group Geneva Call found that non-state armed groups expressed greater acceptance of international humanitarian law when there had been active in long-term engagement with humanitarians.   These armed groups were more likely to deny access and even attack aid workers when humanitarian organisations were perceived to be supporting a political agenda.   One of us – Martin Griffiths – will soon appoint a special adviser on the preservation of humanitarian space and access. This is an opportunity to speed up progress on these critical areas. It will also need governments to take bold, practical steps to ensure respect for international law and facilitate humanitarian access.   And fourth, counter-terrorism measures must not impede humanitarian action, and should include clear exemptions to preserve the ability of humanitarian organisations to help people in need, wherever they are.   Counter-terrorism measures have often hindered humanitarian work in areas where armed groups are present, and at times have even criminalised legitimate aid activities, depriving civilians of life-saving aid precisely when international law entitles them to it.   National legislation in several countries, including recently in Chad and Switzerland, has excluded humanitarian activities from the application of counter-terrorism measures under criminal law. This is a step forward.   Today, World Humanitarian Day, is a moment to commemorate aid workers who have fallen. Taking meaningful and immediate action to protect each and every aid worker operating today is the best way we can honour their legacy.   * Martin Griffiths is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland is the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council. Visit the related web page
	20 years of conflict leaves 20 million Afghans facing acute hunger by WFP, UNHCR, ReliefWeb, Red Cross, agencies Afghanistan   Mar. 2023   Funding shortfall forces UN food agency to cut rations in Afghanistan. (UN News)   The UN food agency in Afghanistan announced on Friday that a lack of funds has forced deep cuts to life-saving assistance in March for at least four million people.   The World Food Programme (WFP) appealed for urgent funding for its operations in the country, where families are battling crisis after crisis, including growing hunger, since the Taliban takeover of 2021.   Catastrophic hunger could become widespread across Afghanistan, and unless humanitarian support is sustained, hundreds of thousands more people will need assistance to survive, the agency said in an alert.   Due to funding constraints, at least four million people will receive just half of what they need to get by in March. Ss food stocks have run out before the next harvest is due in May, this is traditionally the most difficult time of the year for rural families, WFP said.   The cuts come at a time when already vulnerable Afghans are just emerging from yet another freezing winter. Sub-zero temperatures combined with economic distress has pushed millions into despair, the agency added.   WFP urgently needs funding to assist 13 million people for the next six months. Since November last year WFP had been warning that funds would run out just as the lean season is reaching its peak in March and April.   The country is at the highest risk of famine in a quarter of a century, with half of all families living in crisis-coping mode to survive. For millions in Afghanistan, WFP’s food assistance is now the “last lifeline”.   Since August 2022, nine out of 10 Afghan families cannot afford enough food – the highest in the world. Nearly 20 million Afghans do not know where their next meal will come from, and six million of them are one step away from famine.   Levels of moderate acute malnutrition are the highest ever recorded in the country. Two thirds of the population – more than 28 million people – need humanitarian assistance in 2023, almost triple than in 2021.   http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/afghanistan-childrens-crisis-unicef-afghanistan-representative-fran-equizas-remarks http://news.un.org/en/story/2023/03/1134722 http://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/humanitarian-coordinator-appeals-world-not-abandon-people-afghanistan-precarious-moment-endaripashto http://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/wfp-afghanistan-situation-report-31-march-2023   Dec. 2022   Child malnutrition cases rise nearly 50% in Afghanistan as hunger hits record levels, Save the Children reports.   The number of dangerously malnourished children admitted to Save the Children’s mobile health clinics in Afghanistan has increased by 47% since January this year, with some babies dying before managing to receive any treatment, the children's charity said today.   Demand for malnutrition treatment services has surged in recent months as families struggle to cope with Afghanistan’s worst hunger crisis on record. In January, Save the Children’s 57 mobile health teams admitted about 2,500 malnourished children for treatment. By September, that number had jumped to around 4,270 children admitted by 66 teams, according to newly released data.   Experts had hoped to see a drop in hunger levels in Afghanistan during the recent summer harvest season, but the ongoing drought has led to failed crops and harvests have been much smaller than normal, forcing many rural families to sell land and livestock to buy food to feed their children.   The other major driver of the food crisis – the collapse of the country’s economy – has caused unemployment, poverty and food prices to skyrocket, with many families now only surviving on bread and water for weeks at a time.   Humanitarian organisations have provided vast amounts of life-saving food, but the needs are so high that 50% of Afghanistan’s population is still facing extreme hunger, with a 6 million children and adults – nearly one eighth of the population - one step away from famine.   Save the Children doctors say they are overwhelmed with malnourished children – especially young girls who are often deprioritised when it comes to breastfeeding and complementary feeding compared to boys – and cannot keep up with the demand for services.   Nelab, 22, comes from a family of farmers who have been hit hard by the drought. Her three children have all suffered from severe acute malnutrition, including her three-year-old daughter Maryam, who did not receive treatment in time and died on the way to hospital. While Nelab’s son Mohammad, 2, has recovered, her other daughter, Parsto, who is just 11 months old, is still dangerously malnourished.   Nelab said: “There has been less rain than usual so if we plant something it doesn’t grow and then that makes the food really expensive.   “When there’s no food, the children go hungry or we borrow money. Sometimes we only cook one meal a week. That meal is a soup without meat.In between, we eat bread one to two times a day. The situation is much worse than a few years ago.It makes me sad to know my children are malnourished because we don’t have anything to eat, and I don’t know how I can make them better.”   Save the Children’s Country Director in Afghanistan, Chris Nyamandi, said:   “Humanitarian organisations like Save the Children are stretched to the absolute limit trying to stop children dying from hunger every day in Afghanistan. But the truth is, with so many children facing life-threatening levels of hunger, we simply do not have the resources to save them all.   “Every day we’re faced with the heart-wrenching decision – which children do we save? It’s outrageous and horrifying to think that international leaders have the power to save these children’s lives – by working to solve the economic crisis and reinstating humanitarian funding and long-term development assistance that was withdrawn when the Taliban retook control – but they have been too slow to find solutions and now children are dying as a result.   “Humanitarian organisations have been sounding the alarm on Afghanistan for more than a year now. It’s time the world stopped ignoring this catastrophic crisis and took action before many more children lose their lives.”   * Save the Children has worked in Afghanistan since 1976, including during periods of conflict, regime change, and natural disasters. With programmes in nine of 34 provinces and work with partners in an additional six provinces.   http://www.savethechildren.net/news/child-malnutrition-cases-rise-nearly-50-afghanistan-hunger-hits-record-levels http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65449259 http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/details-map/en/c/1156185/ http://www.unicef.org/rosa/stories/acute-respiratory-infections-double-afghanistans-children-face-harshest-winter-decade http://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2023/families-without-help-are-freezing-to-death/ http://www.icrc.org/en/afghanistan-child-pneumonia-malnutrition-spikes   http://www.msf.org/afghanistan-female-healthcare-workers-voice-their-fears-and-concerns http://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/afghanistan-humanitarian-needs-overview-2023-january-2023 http://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/wfp-afghanistan-situation-report-21-february-2023 http://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/afghanistan-humanitarian-update-february-2023 http://unocha.exposure.co/six-things-you-need-to-know-about-afghanistan-right-now http://response.reliefweb.int/afghanistan   May 2022   Record levels of hunger persist in Afghanistan: people require humanitarian assistance, livelihood support, jobs, and long-term investment to help solve the crisis. (WFP/FAO)   19.7 million people, almost half of Afghanistan’s population, are facing acute hunger according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis conducted in January and February 2022 by Food Security and Agriculture Cluster partners, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and many NGOs.   The report predicts that the outlook for June-November 2022 sees the number of people facing acute food insecurity to 18.9 million people. Drought and the deep economic crisis mean that unprecedented hunger will continue to threaten the lives and livelihoods of millions of people across Afghanistan.   “The food security situation is dire. Humanitarian assistance remains desperately important, as do the needs to rebuild shattered agricultural livelihoods and re-connect farmers and rural communities to struggling rural and urban markets across the country. Unless these happen, there will be no way out of this crisis,” said Richard Trenchard, FAO Representative in Afghanistan.   “Food assistance and emergency livelihood support are the lifeline for the people of Afghanistan,” said Mary-Ellen McGroarty, WFP’s Country Director and Representative in Afghanistan.   “We are working to support the local economy. Because the people of Afghanistan would much prefer jobs; women want to be able to work; and all girls deserve to go to school. Allowing the economy to function normally is the surest way out of the crisis, otherwise suffering will grow where crops cannot,” she added.   The war in Ukraine continues to put pressure on Afghanistan’s wheat supply, food commodities, agricultural inputs, and fuel prices. Access to seeds, fertilizer and water for irrigation is limited, labour opportunities are scarce and enormous debts have been incurred to buy food.   FAO assistance to farmers and herders in rural areas aims to assist more than 9 million people in 2022 through a range of interventions supporting crop, livestock and vegetable production, and the rehabilitation of vital irrigation infrastructure and systems.   http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/alerts-archive/issue-63/en/ http://www.wfp.org/emergencies/afghanistan-emergency http://www.unicef.org/afghanistan/press-releases/international-community-and-de-facto-authorities-must-find-ways-work-together-sake http://www.unicef.org/appeals/afghanistan http://www.savethechildren.net/news/almost-10-million-children-going-hungry-afghanistan-food-aid-alone-fails-meet-tidal-wave-need   Apr. 2022   Over 20 million Afghans face acute hunger, including nearly 9 million people one step away from starvation.   Statement by Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, on the humanitarian pledging conference for Afghanistan   “This conference marks an opportunity for the international community to turn a corner and show we stand with Afghanistan in these dark hours. Despite Afghans living through two decades of conflict, what we see today is today truly unprecedented. It is one of the world’s major crises, with humanitarian indicators like hunger and malnutrition spiralling.   “The economic crash unravelling since August 2021 has driven levels of humanitarian needs, while also making the aid response challenging. We see first-hand the adverse impact this has on vulnerable communities. Many families are forced to skip meals and can't afford basic health or education expenses.   “Humanitarian funding is desperately needed. In addition, we must see the international community set out firm policy commitments to help address the economic root causes of this humanitarian crisis and stabilise the economy. Until the economy is on a path to recovery, donors must also continue to support interim measures to ensure humanitarians can access cash in the country. Finally, countries must step up and ensure support to Afghanistan's neighbours is forthcoming and share the responsibility to help them continue hosting refugees.”   International Federation of the Red Cross, Red Crescent Societies (IFRC):   22.8 million people are projected to be in IPC Phase 3+ and ten out of 11 urban areas are in IPC Phase 4. That means over half of the country’s population, 55 per cent, are enduring crisis or emergency levels of acute food insecurity. The continuous drought will cause a reduction in wheat cultivation and will further create insecurity in food access, weaken production of agricultural produce and adversely impact the livestock health as well as the coping capacities of farmers.   International Rescue Committee: Afghans forced to extreme measures to survive   The IRC calls for bold pledges to humanitarian funding and concrete commitments to halt the economic collapse facing the country. Since the shift in political power in Afghanistan last August- when the international community ended all non-emergency funding and cut Afghanistan off from international financial systems- the speed of Afghanistan’s economic collapse has been unprecedented.   Afghans that could support themselves and their families six months ago are now entirely dependent on aid. With each week that goes by, more Afghans are forced to resort to the unimaginable to survive: since August, the number of Afghans resorting to negative coping capacities has risen sixfold, such as selling young daughters into marriage, pulling children out of school to work, selling organs, skipping meals or taking on high levels of debt.   David Miliband, President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, said, “Afghanistan is a prime example of System Failure. The international system designed to protect civilians has instead pushed the country towards near total collapse. If the Afghan economy is not resuscitated, the severity of the current humanitarian crisis will only deepen, with dire consequences for life and limb of ordinary Afghans – and it will cost the international community more in humanitarian aid. Further economic distress will only mean greater displacement, greater insecurity and greater misery.   “Donors must move forward on two tracks. First, ensuring the livelihoods of Afghan people in the immediate term. With enough funding, humanitarian response will save lives. Essential services like healthcare and education should be seen as indispensable.   “Afghanistan urgently requires a roadmap for international engagement to address the economic crisis, including the release of frozen Afghan assets to the central bank. This will require donors and financial institutions to help rebuild the capacity of the central bank to operate independently, adhere to international banking standards, and manage the Afghan economy. The urgent work to stave off famine and preventable deaths in the coming weeks and months should not crowd out the important work to halt the trajectory of this crisis and stabilize the economy. Until these measures are taken, Afghan civilians will continue to pay for the transgressions of others with their own lives and suffering.”   * The IRC began work in Afghanistan in 1988, and now works with thousands of villages across ten provinces, with Afghans making up more than 99% of IRC staff in the country.   German Aid Agency Welthungerhilfe: “We Cannot Abandon People to Hunger!”   Welthungerhilfe is warning of yet another escalation in the already severe hunger crisis in Afghanistan, where 95 percent of the population no longer has adequate nutrition. Seven out of every ten families are in a permanent crisis mode. This means more than missing entire meals and being unable to pay for urgently needed doctors’ visits or medications; out of their great need, families marry girls off young and increasingly send children to work. This catastrophic situation is worsening because of rising food and fuel prices due to the war in Ukraine.   “Afghanistan is in free fall. The sanctions are crushing the economy and preventing money from entering the country. Agricultural production will continue to plummet because farmers cannot purchase seeds or fertiliser due to drastic price hikes.   The population is suffering from hunger and poverty, and we are risking the future of an entire generation that now lacks both adequate nutrition and a proper education. We cannot abandon an entire generation to hunger,” states Thomas ten Boer, Welthungerhilfe’s country director in Kabul.   Welthungerhilfe is calling for sufficient funding to go to humanitarian survival aid and to long-term projects that focus on agricultural self-sufficiency and income-generating activities, for example. Frozen funds, including at the World Bank, should be released to international and local organisations for projects that provide basic social services to vulnerable people and families in need".   Dec. 2021   World Food Programme calls for funds as children face ‘hunger and starvation’.   The World Food Programme (WFP) is in a “race against time” to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan, its executive director David Beasley has warned.   A total 22.8 million people, more than half the population, face acute hunger.   “What’s happening in Afghanistan is just horrific,” said Beasley, who has just visited. “I met families with no jobs, no cash and no food, mothers who sold one child to feed another, and the lucky children who made it to the hospital. The world cannot turn its back as the Afghan people starve.”   WFP is calling for for urgent funding support to provide life-saving support and work towards long-term resilience. In addition to food assistance, cash grants from WFP empower people to buy food, complementing its efforts to boost the resilience of communities through activities such as providing training in agricultural techniques and irrigation projects.   Humanitarian needs have tripled, according to the organization, whose fleet of 170 trucks criss-cross the country, delivering nutritious food to remote villages and urban areas alike.   WFP hopes to reach more than half the population in 2022. Its work is dependent on sufficient funding, however. This year, WFP has served 15 million people, including breastfeeding women and children aged under 5.   “The face of hunger is changing here,” said Shelley Thakral, WFP’s head of communications in the country. “People in cities are now suffering food insecurity at similar rates to rural communities.”   “They have lost their incomes, there are no jobs, food prices have increased, in some cases the drought and conflict have forced people to leave their homes. In some of the districts in the northeast of the country, the water levels are dangerously low.”   “About 70 percent of Afghanistan’s population live in rural areas, and 85 percent derive income from agriculture,” said Thakral. “This means that climate shocks such as drought, flooding and landslides have an outsized effect on families and the national economy. Then there’s challenges like increasing water scarcity as glaciers retreat.”   Mary-Ellen McGroarty, WFP’s Country Director for Afghanistan, has implored the international community to respond to what she calls a 'tsunami of hunger'.   “We need to separate the humanitarian imperative from the political discussions,” she said. “The innocent people of Afghanistan, the children… who have their lives upended through no fault of their own, cannot be condemned to hunger and starvation just because of the lottery of geopolitics and the lottery of birth.”   WFP’s Head of emergencies, Margot van der Velden, echoed her concerns: “Sanctions are impeding us from operating, because the sanctions are indicating that we are not allowed to operate with the de facto government.” Prior to August and the handover to the Taliban, conflict had displaced more than 600,000 people.   Since then, the economy has been in freefall – the availability of cash is severely limited as the country is frozen out of the international banking system. The economic crisis has created a new class of hungry. For the first time, urban residents are suffering from food insecurity at similar rates to rural communities, with the latter ravaged by drought twice in the past three years.   “This is manifesting in almost 23 million people unable to get a decent plate of food every single day,” said McGroarty. “Many of the people I have met, right across the country, tell me they are terrified for the winter, because as food prices have gone up, as fuel prices have gone up and as jobs have disappeared, they don’t know how they’re going to get through.   Shelley Thakral, who has just returned from a visit to Faizabad, added that amid the extreme cold, “there is no money for families to buy firewood. As we sat with a group of 20 women in a small village, a former teacher told me she has sold most of her household items and utensils.” Numerous women she met made desperate appeals for help. One told her: “I am in pain, I have no money to eat, I haven’t eaten in two days and I have no money to pay my rent.”   http://www.wfp.org/stories/afghanistan-world-food-programme-calls-funds-children-face-hunger-and-starvation http://www.wfp.org/stories/afghanistan-freefall-towards-possible-famine-amidst-economic-collapse-and-drought http://www.wfp.org/emergencies/afghanistan-emergency http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/alerts-archive/issue-49/en/   Half of Afghanistan’s children under five expected to suffer from acute malnutrition as hunger takes root for millions. (WFP)   Wrapping up a two-day visit to Herat, UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan, Hervé Ludovic De Lys, and WFP Afghanistan Representative and Country Director, Mary-Ellen McGroarty, sounded the alarm on the dire state of malnutrition and food insecurity sweeping across the country.   Without reliable access to water, food and basic health and nutrition services, Afghan children and their families are bearing the brunt of years of conflict and the current economic crisis. 14 million people in Afghanistan are facing acute food insecurity, and an estimated 3.2 million children under the age of five expected to suffer from acute malnutrition by the end of the year.   At least 1 million of these children are at risk of dying due to severe acute malnutrition without immediate treatment.   De Lys and McGroarty spoke with Jahan Bibi, whose 18-month-old daughter is being treated for severe acute malnutrition at the Herat Regional hospital. She brought her daughter to the hospital as she could no longer breastfeed her baby. “We have no food at home. We are selling everything to buy food, yet I barely eat anything. I am weak and I don’t have any milk for my child.”   “As more families struggle to put food on the table, the nutritional health of mothers and their children is getting worse by the day,” said Hervé Ludovic De Lys, UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan.   “Children are getting sicker and their families are less and less able to get them the treatment they need. Rapidly spreading outbreaks of measles and acute watery diarrhoea will only exacerbate the situation.”   According to WFP surveys 95 per cent of households in Afghanistan are not consuming enough food, adults are eating less and skipping meals so their children can eat more.   “We have huge concerns about the desperate choices families are being forced to take,” said Mary-Ellen McGroarty, WFP Afghanistan’s Representative and Country Director. “Unless we intervene now, malnutrition will only become more severe. The international community must release the funds they pledged weeks ago, or the impact could be irreversible.”   http://www.wfp.org/news/half-afghanistans-children-under-five-expected-suffer-acute-malnutrition-hunger-takes-root http://unocha.exposure.co/nine-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-situation-in-afghanistan-right-now   Sep. 2021   UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore on children in Afghanistan:   Today, around 10 million children across Afghanistan need humanitarian assistance to survive. An estimated 1 million children are projected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition over the course of this year and could die without treatment.   An estimated 4.2 million children are out of school, including more than 2.2 million girls. Since January, the UN has documented over 2,000 grave violations of children’s rights. Approximately 435,000 children and women are internally displaced.   “This is the grim reality facing Afghan children and it remains so regardless of ongoing political developments and changes in government.   “We anticipate that the humanitarian needs of children and women will increase over the coming months amidst a severe drought and consequent water scarcity, the devastating socioeconomic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the onset of winter.   “That is why, after 65 years in Afghanistan striving to improve the lives of children and women, UNICEF will remain on the ground now and in the days to come. We are deeply committed to the country’s children and there is far more work to be done on their behalf.   “Millions will continue to need essential services, including health, lifesaving vaccination drives against polio and measles, nutrition, protection, shelter, water and sanitation.   “We urge the Taliban and other parties to ensure that UNICEF and our humanitarian partners have safe, timely and unfettered access to reach children in need wherever they are.   In addition, all humanitarian actors must have the space to operate according to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence.   “Our commitment to Afghanistan’s children is unequivocal and our aim is to see that the rights of each and every one of them are realized and protected.”   http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/statement-unicef-executive-director-henrietta-fore-children-afghanistan http://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/under-secretary-general-humanitarian-affairs-and-emergency-relief-coordinator-1 http://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/afghanistan-icrc-president-warns-against-conditional-humanitarian-aid http://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/afghanistan-aid-urgently-needed-hunger-crisis-worsens-daily http://www.nrc.no/news/2021/september/afghanistan-is-on-a-countdown-to-economic-collapse/ http://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/afghanistan-price-hikes-push-food-out-reach-millions-children http://www.wfp.org/countries/afghanistan http://www.ifrc.org/press-release/afghanistan-faces-collapse-health-services-and-mass-hunger http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/blogs/2021/we-cannot-abandon-afghanistan http://www.icrc.org/en/afghanistan-crisis http://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-asia/afghanistan/afghanistans-growing-humanitarian-crisis http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)01963-2/fulltext http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)01901-2/fulltext   August 2021   Statement by Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee on Afghanistan   The people of Afghanistan need our support now more than ever. Our organizations are committed to helping and protecting them. We will stay in Afghanistan and we will deliver.   At the start of 2021, half the population of Afghanistan – including more than 4 million women and nearly 10 million children – already needed humanitarian assistance.   One third of the population was facing crisis and emergency levels of acute food insecurity and more than half of all children under 5 years of age were malnourished.   Those needs have risen sharply because of conflict, drought and COVID-19. Since the end of May, the number of people internally displaced because of conflict and in need of immediate humanitarian aid more than doubled, reaching 550,000.   We echo the UN Secretary-General’s call for all parties (including the Taliban) to cease all violence and comply with international humanitarian law and human rights. They must allow and facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded access for humanitarian workers – both male and female staff – so they can deliver aid to civilians in need wherever they are.   The humanitarian operation will also depend on funding, movement within, to and from Afghanistan, and access to health facilities. The critical role of front-line humanitarian organizations must be supported.   All parties must protect civilians and respect the rights and freedoms of all. Today we reiterate our commitment to promoting the rights of everyone in Afghanistan, including women and girls.   Important gains made in recent years – including on gender equality and girls’ access to a quality education – must be preserved. And much more needs to be done to realize the rights of women and girls. We will continue to engage to make sure this happens.   Civilians must also be allowed to seek safety and protection, including the right to seek asylum. We call on Governments to keep borders open to receive Afghan refugees fleeing from violence and persecution and refrain from deportations.   This is not the time to abandon the Afghan people. Member States must provide all possible support to Afghan nationals at risk, including a moratorium on repatriations. We urge neighbouring countries to ensure the protection of Afghans displaced across their borders.   We call on donors to remain steadfast in their support for humanitarian operations in Afghanistan and to support resilient livelihoods.   The humanitarian community reached almost 8 million people in the first half of 2021 with aid. Timely funding saves lives, protects livelihoods, eases suffering and prevents further displacement.   A total of US$1.3 billion is required to reach almost 16 million people with humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan; only 37 per cent of required funds have been received, leaving a shortfall of almost $800 million.   The international community has spent decades working with the people of Afghanistan to make progress. Now the international community must continue to support the people of Afghanistan if those gains are not to be reversed. Humanitarian funding must be sustained.   Now, as always, we remain committed to the people of Afghanistan and will do everything possible to stay and provide assistance, especially to the most vulnerable.   http://interagencystandingcommittee.org/inter-agency-standing-committee/statement-principals-inter-agency-standing-committee-afghanistan http://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/un-and-ngos-will-stay-and-deliver-aid-millions-afghans-need http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/en/?country=AFG http://www.unocha.org/afghanistan http://www.acaps.org/country/afghanistan/crisis/complex-crisis http://reliefweb.int/country/afg Visit the related web page
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