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	Yemen: where the worst nightmares have become a reality by UN News, OCHA, Islamic Relief, agencies   Aug. 2019   Humanitarians across Yemen renew call to end conflict   'Every humanitarian working in Yemen knows that the only solution to this senseless, terrible tragedy is to end the conflict', says Ms. Lise Grande, Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen.   This is why we are using World Humanitarian Day to ask everyone to lay down their weapons, work towards peace and give humanitarians immediate, unimpeded and safe access to the people who need our assistance.   Across Yemen, humanitarian workers are doing everything we can to help people survive a war that has gone on too long, claimed too many lives and damaged too many homes, schools, hospitals, farms and businesses across the country.   'Even though we work in one of the most difficult environments in the world, humanitarians are reaching millions of people who would not survive without us', said Ms. Grande. 'Every month nearly 12.5 million people receive life-saving aid'.   Yemen is the world's largest humanitarian crisis. Nearly 80 per cent of the total population, 24.1 million people, requires some form of humanitarian assistance and protection.   The 2019 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP) requires US$4.2 billion to assist more than 20 million Yemenis, including 10 million people, who rely entirely on humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs each month.   As of today, the operation is only 34 per cent funded. Humanitarian agencies are appealing to donors who promised to fund the operation to provide support as quickly as possible.   UNICEF Humanitarian Action for Children 2019: Yemen   The conflict-driven humanitarian crisis in Yemen is the largest emergency globally, with more than 24.1 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.   Conflict has led to internal displacement of 3.6 million people, including 2 million children, left millions of public sector workers without salaries for years and undermined humanitarian access to many vulnerable populations.   An estimated 12 million Yemenis, including 7 million children, will depend on food assistance in 2019.   The economic deterioration continues, with the rial losing nearly 50 per cent of its value since September 2018, and affected families struggling to purchase food.   The escalation of violence in the port of Hudaydah has threatened the delivery of essential food and medicines throughout the country.   Nearly 358,000 children under 5 years suffer from severe acute malnutrition (SAM), and require treatment. Only 10 per cent of children under 6 months are exclusively breastfed and majority of children are deprived of a healthy diet.   Only 15 per cent of children are eating the minimum acceptable diet for survival, growth and development.   Rising food insecurity, with poor sanitation and lack of safe water has increased preventable diseases.   Immunization coverage has stagnated at the national level with declines seen in many areas resulting in outbreaks of measles, diphtheria and other vaccine preventable disease.   Access to primary healthcare for mothers, their newborns and children remains an issue.   Since late 2016, over 1.3 million cases of suspected cholera have been reported, with over 311,000 cases reported in 2018.   UNICEF and partners integrated cholera response has been effective, however, cholera remains endemic in Yemen, and resurgence remains a real risk during 2019.   Children are the primary victims of the crisis. According to the Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting on grave child rights violations, more than 6,700 children have been verified as killed or maimed since the start of the conflict.   Children remain under extreme risk of death or injury from unexploded ordinances, landmines and explosive remnants of war.   The damage and closure of schools and hospitals are threatening children's access to education and health services, rendering them vulnerable to serious protection concerns. At least 2 million children in Yemen are out of school.   http://www.unicef.org/yemen/ http://www.unicef.org/appeals/yemen.html http://www.ochayemen.org/hpc/hno http://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/operations/yemen http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/life-saving-services-risk-humanitarian-funding-dries-yemen http://www.msf.org/still-no-sign-change-population-frontline-yemen   http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-food-security-outlook-october-2019-may-2020 http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/war-destroyed-our-dreams-why-international-community-should-invest-yemen-s-peace http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/strikes-damage-key-hospital-serving-hundreds-thousands-yemenis-enar http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/population-frontline-indiscriminate-attacks-civilians-and-still-no-sign-change   Apr. 2019   Yemen: where the worst nightmares have become a reality, by Najat Elhamri, for Islamic Relief Worldwide   I have been an aid worker for more than 15 years and worked on some of the worst humanitarian crises of the 21st Century from Niger to Syria.   I didn't think there were many things left that could shock me but what I saw on the ground in Hodeidah, Sanaa and Aden when I visited this month chilled me to my core.   I saw so many children, with desperate staring eyes, ravaged by acute malnutrition and in some cases, cholera. Some were struggling to stand, never mind walk. I saw many others who had lost their limbs in bombing attacks or following a land mine explosion. Many of these children are traumatised by what they have seen and experienced and for some of them, the loss of their parents and brothers and sisters.   But the stories my team shared with me shocked me even more. For example, a father arrived at one of our distribution points with petrol and his children, threatening to set them on fire because he had no means to feed them. Even dying this way was better than starving to death, he said.   To make matters worse, fears are now rising that we could be on the brink of a fresh cholera epidemic, with the disease believed to have infected well over one million people. In just one week in February there were over 6700 suspected cases and more than 560 people have died of the disease so far this year. I visited a mother and child health facility in Sana'a and from the 120 admitted cases, 17 were confirmed cases of cholera.   The conditions here were so poor that there was no isolation centre to treat cholera cases and sometimes more than five people were sharing two beds between themselves. Those with infectious diseases such as cholera were not being properly isolated, and conditions were almost begging the germs to jump from body to body, ravaging those already frail from malnutrition and other diseases that are not being properly treated due to a chronic lack of medicine and medical supplies. Premature babies were particularly at risk, in incubators with no ventilation and no adequate medical care.   This is upsetting for anybody but as a mother, when you compare what life is like in Yemen, to my life at home, it doesn't just feel like another country, but a dystopian parallel universe where your worst nightmares have become a reality.   Even if they survive this brutal war, I wonder what kind of future they will be able to have. The social consequences of the conflict are also bound to have ramifications for years to come. Early child marriage has always been a problem in Yemen, which even before the war was one of the poorest countries in the region, but this war has sent the country back decades if not longer.   The sheer desperation people experience; with the pressure to feed their families and pay off debts means they are giving their daughters away for marriage younger and younger. The families say they do not want to do this but that early marriage is better than starvation or death.   Everywhere I went, I saw people in desperate circumstances, including health workers who had not been paid for three years.   Islamic Relief is doing what it can to help, providing food to over 2 million people every month and supporting health clinics and hospitals and running feeding centres to help severely malnourished mothers and babies. But it is no mean feat. Aid workers themselves are falling prey to this conflict. Just last week an aid worker was killed by shrapnel wounds following clashes in Hodeidah. And one driver working with the Islamic Relief team was killed by a stray bullet in Hodeidah in January. The security situation also makes it difficult for us to travel around the country. Access for aid agencies must urgently improve.   But what's really needed in Yemen is a lasting peaceful solution. Despite what everyone has been through in this country, I was overwhelmed by their warmth and kindness. And it breaks my heart to think there is no clear end in sight to the conflict that is bringing these people to their knees.   While there were hopes that the initial agreement for a ceasefire in Hodeidah would have held, our staff in Hodeidah are telling us of an increase in heavy fighting and are seriously concerned for the impact this will have on the population. All parties to the conflict must put people first and stop this brutal war, before it is too late.   * Najat Elhamri is Head of Middle East and Eastern Europe region, Islamic Relief Worldwide. http://tmsnrt.rs/2TWPpuF   Mar. 2019   Yemen: 2019 Humanitarian Needs Overview. (OCHA)   The humanitarian crisis in Yemen remains the worst in the world. Nearly four years of conflict and severe economic decline are driving the country to the brink of famine and exacerbating needs in all sectors. An estimated 80 per cent of the population - 24 million people require some form of humanitarian or protection assistance, including 14.3 million who are in acute need.   Severity of needs is deepening, with the number of people in acute need a staggering 27 per cent higher than last year. Two-thirds of all districts in the country are already pre-famine, and one-third face a convergence of multiple acute vulnerabilities.   The escalation of the conflict since March 2015 has dramatically aggravated the protection crisis in which millions face risks to their safety and basic rights.   KEY HUMANITARIAN ISSUES   1. Basic survival needs   More than 20 million people across the country are food insecure, including nearly 10 million who are suffering from extreme levels of hunger. For the first time, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has confirmed pockets of catastrophic hunger in some locations, with 238,000 people affected. An estimated 7.4 million people require services to treat or prevent malnutrition, including 3.2 million people who require treatment for acute malnutrition - 2 million children under 5 and more than one million pregnant and lactating women (PLW).   A total of 17.8 million people lack access to safe water and sanitation, and 19.7 million people lack access to adequate healthcare.   Poor sanitation and waterborne diseases, including cholera, left hundreds of thousands of people ill last year.   In sum, needs have intensified across all sectors. Millions of Yemenis are hungrier, sicker and more vulnerable than a year ago, pushing an ever-greater number of people into reliance on humanitarian assistance. Humanitarian response is increasingly becoming the only lifeline for millions of Yemenis.   2. Protection of Civilians   Yemen is facing a severe protection crisis, and civilians face serious risks to their safety, well-being and basic rights. Tens of thousands of people have been killed or injured since 2015, and among them at least 17,700 civilians as verified by the UN.   An estimated 3.3 million people remain displaced, up from 2.2 million last year. This includes 685,000 people who fled fighting in Al Hudaydah and on the west coast from June onwards. Escalating conflict is causing extensive damage to public and civilian infrastructure. Intensity of conflict is directly related to severity of needs.   Humanitarian needs are most acute in governorates that have been most affected by conflict, including Taizz, Al Hudaydah and Sa'ada governorates. More than 60 per cent of people in these governorates are in acute need of humanitarian assistance.   3. Livelihoods and essential basic services   The Yemeni economy is on the verge of collapse. The economy has contracted by about 50 per cent since conflict escalated in March 2015. Employment and income opportunities have significantly diminished. Exchange rate volatility - including unprecedented depreciation of the Yemeni Rial (YER) between August and October 2018 - further undermined households purchasing power.   Basic services and the institutions that provide them are collapsing, placing enormous pressure on the humanitarian response. The fiscal deficit since the last quarter of 2016 has led to major gaps in the operational budgets of basic services and erratic salary payments - severely compromising peoples - access to basic services.   Only 51 per cent of health facilities are fully functional. More than a quarter of all children are out of school, and civil servants and pensioners in northern Yemen have not been paid salaries and bursaries for years. Humanitarian partners have been increasingly stretching to fill some of these gaps to ensure continuity of essential services.   http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-2019-humanitarian-needs-overview-enar http://bit.ly/2EagMXw http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/1000-children-infected-every-day-yemen-cholera-outbreak-spikes http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/record-update-situation-hajjah-and-hodeidah-yemen http://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2019/why-yemen-is-the-worlds-worst-humanitarian-crisis/ http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/resources/resources-details/en/c/1151864/
	The violence continues to worsen in Afghanistan by UNHCR, ReliefWeb, NRC, agencies   July 2021   UNHCR warns of imminent humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.   This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva:   UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is warning of a looming humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan as the escalating conflict brings increased human suffering and civilian displacement.   An estimated 270,000 Afghans have been newly displaced inside the country since January 2021 – primarily due to insecurity and violence – bringing the total uprooted population to over 3.5 million.   Families forced to flee their homes in recent weeks cite the worsening security situation as the predominant reason for their flight.   In addition to ongoing fighting, displaced civilians have told UNHCR and partners of incidents of extortion by non-state armed groups and the presence of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on major roads. Many have reported interruptions to social services and a loss of income due to rising insecurity.   The number of civilian casualties has risen 29 per cent during the first quarter of this year compared to 2020, according to UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. An increasing proportion of women and children were among those targeted.   The needs of those who have had to flee suddenly are acute. UNHCR and partners, as part of a coordinated response, are assisting newly displaced Afghans with emergency shelter, food, health, water and sanitation support and cash assistance, despite challenges in accessing vulnerable groups.   The resilience of the Afghan people has been pushed to the limit by prolonged conflict, high levels of displacement, the impact of COVID-19, recurrent natural disasters, including drought, and deepening poverty. Some 65 per cent of the Afghan population – in and outside of Afghanistan – are children and young people.   A failure to reach a peace agreement in Afghanistan and stem the current violence will lead to further displacement within the country, as well as to neighbouring countries and beyond.   Iran and Pakistan host nearly 90 per cent of displaced Afghans - more than two million registered Afghan refugees in total. Both countries have granted access to territory and protection to Afghan refugees, along with health and educational services through national systems. Their hospitality and inclusive policies, spanning decades and generations, must not be taken for granted.   UNHCR welcomes the respective governments’ commitment to provide access to asylum amidst the global health and socio-economic challenges of COVID-19. We stand ready to bolster humanitarian support to all host countries in the case of additional arrivals.   We urge the international community to step up support to the Government and people of Afghanistan and its neighbours at this critical moment, in a spirit of solidarity and burden-sharing.   Humanitarian resources are currently falling dramatically short. UNHCR’s financial appeal for the Afghanistan situation (including operations for Afghan refugees in Pakistan and Iran) remains acutely underfunded, at only 43 per cent of a total US$ 337 million required.   http://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing/2021/7/60ed3ba34/unhcr-warns-imminent-humanitarian-crisis-afghanistan.html http://www.unhcr.org/news/stories/2021/7/60f008f54/displaced-afghan-family-struggles-cope-amid-latest-violence.html   July 2021   Mounting concern about reports of human rights abuses in communities most affected by military offensive. (UN News)   The United Nations in Afghanistan is increasingly concerned with the number of reported serious human rights abuses and violations alleged in communities most affected by the ongoing military offensive across the country.   The reports of killing, ill-treatment, persecution and discrimination are widespread and disturbing, creating fear and insecurity. Those who carry out any such acts must be held accountable.   The UN reiterates that parties are obliged to respect the human rights and dignity of all Afghans, especially those of women and girls who have in the past been subjected to particularly acute forms of discrimination.   The best way to end harm to civilians is for peace talks to be re-invigorated in order for a negotiated settlement to be reached.   Those genuinely interested in the future of Afghanistan and its people, should prioritize negotiating a peace and committing to measures, including safeguarding the country’s infrastructure, that will show a real concern for the welfare of all Afghans.   http://news.un.org/en/tags/afghanistan http://unama.unmissions.org/news   July 2021   Afghanistan: Civilians paying steep price of surge in violence and COVID-19. (ICRC)   Afghanistan is among the deadliest places in the world to be a civilian, and women and children make up nearly half of all civilian casualties. In addition to the increased violence over past months, communities are also dealing with a deadly resurgence of COVID-19.   In the first six months of the year, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) helped more than 49,500 war-wounded patients get further treatment and care. That is an average of 270 people every day needing treatment for what are often extremely serious and painful life-changing injuries. In Kandahar, at the ICRC supported Mirwais Regional Hospital, 2,366 weapon wounded patients have been treated during the first half of 2021 - more than double the number of patients during same period last year.   The ICRC's physical rehabilitation and limb-fitting services registered more than 7130 new patients in the same period, an average of 40 people every day. Of those, more than 700 were people who had had a limb amputated, or on average four people a day with such a condition.   In total, our teams in 7 physical rehabilitation centres across Afghanistan have helped almost 80,000 people since January, at a time when violence in the country is rising.   "The ICRC is appealing to all parties to the conflict to do more to protect civilians from harm. The intensification of conflict related violence, growing insecurity, destruction of water or electricity infrastructures, lack of access, attacks on health facilities and health workers, are among the main issues affecting the lives of Afghans." said Eloi Fillion, the ICRC's head of delegation in Afghanistan.   "More than four decades of armed conflict in Afghanistan have all but decimated its health care system. With COVID-19 adding yet another deadly threat, access to health care is among the most pressing humanitarian needs everywhere in the country, regardless of the political affiliation," said Mr. Fillion.   The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is committed to working in Afghanistan to deliver urgently needed humanitarian aid for people affected by the armed conflict.   The ICRC continues to reach out to all parties to the conflict to ensure respect of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), our call focuses in particular on the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure – including medical personnel, facilities and vehicles – in times of conflict and violence; and to support health care to address both the consequences of armed conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic.   http://www.icrc.org/en/document/afghanistan-civilians-paying-steep-price-surge-violence-and-covid-19 http://www.icrc.org/en/where-we-work/asia-pacific/afghanistan http://media.ifrc.org/ifrc/country/asia-pacific/afghanistan/ http://www.msf.org/violence-soars-across-afghanistan-while-access-healthcare-becomes-severely-limited   June 2021   The Violence Continues to Worsen in Afghanistan. (Emergency)   The war has been devastating for a long time, but this year is particularly bad. There was a 29% increase in civilian casualties from the violence in the first four months of this year compared to last, and we have seen this first hand in our hospitals across Afghanistan.   With Afghanistan’s healthcare system on a precipice, we are doing everything to reduce the burden and treat every person in need we can.   "Our hospitals are ready for the umpteenth round of fighting and for yet another year with record numbers of patients.   After years of training, our Afghan staff are now managing their clinical work almost entirely independently. All our facilities have been expanded and renovated to better handle the current volumes of patients.   Every day, we count the wounded, listen to Afghans’ stories of life and death, and hope for the day when war ends and our presence will no longer be needed here." - Emanuele Nannini, EMERGENCY Field Operations Department   Afghanistan’s people need support right now.   COVID-19 is hammering the state healthcare system. The number of war victims is rising. It is an incredibly difficult time, but we will continue to treat those in need across the country.   http://en.emergency.it/blog/from-the-field/the-violence-continues-to-worsen-in-afghanistan/ http://en.emergency.it/blog/tag/afghanistan/ http://en.emergency.it/blog/from-the-field/afghanistan20-afghanistan-between-2001-2021-from-the-perspective-of-its-victims-and-those-treating-them/ http://afghanistan20.emergency.it/en http://www.msf.org/afghanistan   24 May 2021   UN and NGOs will stay and deliver aid to millions of Afghans in need   Humanitarian actors in Afghanistan (the UN and national and international NGOs) are committed to staying and delivering impartial and neutral assistance to millions of people in need.   Ongoing conflict, spiralling food insecurity and the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in a near-doubling of people in need in the space of 12 months – up from 9.4 million in January 2020 to 18.4 million in January 2021.   While intra-Afghan negotiations present the opportunity for a lasting peace, humanitarian actors are deeply concerned by continued violence across the country characterised by high levels of civilian casualties and almost 100,000 people internally displaced just this year.   Increasing conflict and bureaucratic impediments have required humanitarian organisations to assess, mitigate and navigate the changing operational space.   Despite these challenges, some 165 humanitarian organisations continued working across the country and reached nearly 12 million people with life-saving assistance in 2020.   Even with significant funding and operational challenges, 3.7 million people received aid during the first three months of 2021, demonstrating a strong capacity to stay and deliver assistance and protection to people in need, including in challenging environments.   In the context of growing need driven by the pandemic, food insecurity, conflict and a looming threat of drought, humanitarian organisations are mobilising to scale-up support and continue to respond wherever assistance is most needed.   In order to achieve the above, humanitarian actors in Afghanistan ask the following to parties to the conflict:   Protect civilians, aid workers and civilian infrastructure such as schools and hospitals in compliance with International Humanitarian Law.   Provide unimpeded access and ensure that aid workers and service providers can deliver assistance and services without interference, in accordance with the principles of independence, impartiality and neutrality.   To donors and the international community: Urgently release and increase funding to the Afghanistan Humanitarian Response Plan.   In 2021, the UN and humanitarian partners in Afghanistan require US $1.3 billion to help 15.7 million people in need. Only $166.8 million (13 per cent) of the funding has been received so far.   Humanitarian Coordinator Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov says, “The COVID-19 crisis has already had significant consequences on the lives and livelihoods of Afghans and on humanitarian operations. At this critical time, it is more important than ever that we continue to work together to uphold the rights of all people in Afghanistan, including their right to life-saving aid.”   http://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/un-and-ngos-will-stay-and-deliver-aid-millions-afghans-need http://www.nrc.no/news/2021/june/severe-drought-threatens-three-million-afghans/ http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/en/?country=AFG http://www.unocha.org/afghanistan http://reliefweb.int/country/afg   July 2019   As the Global Nutrition Cluster event on Afghanistan is underway in Brussels, there is a clarion call for consolidated and sustained efforts to tackle undernutrition. Children in Afghanistan continue to bear the brunt of decades of protracted conflict. In 2019, an estimated 6.3 million people, including 3.8 million children, require some form of humanitarian assistance and protection, twice the number of the previous year.   'Proper nutrition during the first 1,000 days, from a mother's pregnancy until a child's second birthday is crucial to the wellbeing and development of any child', says Sheema Sen Gupta, Acting Representative, UNICEF Afghanistan. 'Unfortunately, many children are missing out on this due to poverty, food insecurity, conflict and lack of knowledge on proper feeding practices, resulting to hundreds of thousands of children suffering from acute malnutrition, and many others are suffering from its most severe form'.   An analysis of nutrition surveys conducted across Afghanistan shows that 22 out of 34 provinces are currently above the emergency level threshold of acute malnutrition. In 2019, the overall estimated number of acutely malnourished under-five year old children is two million, an increase by 28 per cent in comparison with 2018.   'This year, as the world is commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, we are reminded of our collective obligations to once again position and invest in realizing the rights of every girl and boy in Afghanistan to survival and growth', added Sen Gupta. 'If we are to tackle and reverse this unfortunate trend as we must take action together and now'.   * OCHA Afghanistan Humanitarian Response Plan (82pp): http://bit.ly/30myZdO   June 2019   600,000 Afghan children face death through malnutrition without immediate emergency funds. (Unicef)   In Afghanistan, children suffering from the most serious form of malnutrition may die, unless funding is found, UNICEF said on Friday.   Speaking in Geneva, UN Children's Fund spokesperson Christophe Boulierac, likened the humanitarian situation in the war-torn country to 'one of the worst disasters on earth'.   And he warned that increased violence and last year's severe drought have left hundreds of thousands of under-fives, critically vulnerable across the country.   'There are two million children in the country which suffer from acute malnutrition, among them 600,000 children that suffer from severe acute malnutrition', he said. 'A child that suffers from acute severe malnutrition is a child that needs urgent treatment, otherwise he might die'.   While Afghanistan's nutrition crisis is mirrored in many other trouble-spots around the world - from South Sudan to Yemen and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) - the UNICEF Spokesperson underlined the dangers, if funding is not found soon.   'We are the sole provider of treatment for severe acute malnutrition', Mr. Boulierac said, 'If we don't have money to buy this treatment, the severely acute malnourished will not get it'.   The development comes amid ongoing insecurity linked to four decades of conflict in Afghanistan, where UNICEF distributes supplies to health facilities across all 34 provinces.   According to the agency, 3.8 million children need protection and assistance this year, while nearly 289,000 people were displaced by violence in 2018. In addition, one in three children has experienced psychological distress, linked to the 'constant risk' of death or injury, UNICEF believes.   Existing funding shortages have meant that fewer than one in two of the most vulnerable children received life-saving help in UN-supported health clinics across Afghanistan in 2018.   Mr. Boulierac explained, 'a child with severe acute malnutrition is 11 times more likely to die than their healthy peers', noting that malnutrition reduces people's resistance to disease.   This is a particular concern in Afghanistan, where only one in two children has been vaccinated, the UNICEF spokesperson added.   http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/geneva-palais-briefing-note-childrens-nutrition-risk-afghanistan http://www.unicef.org/afghanistan/situation-children-and-women-afghanistan   Feb. 2019   The first weeks of 2019 have seen large numbers of civilians displaced by intensified conflict across the Afghan countryside.   "Whilst international attention is focused on very welcome peace talks, I have in recent days met countless Afghan women, men and children who have fled air raids, cross-fire and military offensives in Central and Southern Afghanistan," said Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council who is currently visiting the country.   "Many recent casualties in the Afghan war are in hard-to-reach areas where the few humanitarian groups are overwhelmed by the needs."   Afghans continue to be attacked, abused, displaced and refused their rights. Almost two-thirds of the population - 17 million people - live in areas directly affected by conflict.   Approximately 6.3 million are in need of humanitarian assistance, of these 60 per cent are children. 1.5 million people are internally displaced across the country.   In addition, 2.6 million people are close to famine. Separate studies undertaken by NRC showed that while almost half of the displaced people surveyed received assistance in 2012, five years later our survey showed that only a quarter received external support.   The deepening neglect of conflict victims has continued through 2018, which was one of the deadliest years in the last decade with over 8,000 people killed or injured.   "All the civilians I met in conflict stricken Uruzgan and Kandahar expressed a deep yearning for peace after generations of senseless and bloody war. The Afghans in the countryside, many living in poverty, have seen frontlines shift for decades and yearn for security, a possibility to return to their lands and to restart livelihoods.   At the same time, they beg that the progress brought by foreign assistance must be secured and that all of the unfulfilled promises of education, health and development must not be forgotten as foreign forces prepare to leave," said Egeland.   NRC is appealing to the parties of the conflict to guarantee humanitarian access across frontlines and to allow aid groups to stay and deliver in hard-to-reach areas where many Afghans in greatest need now suffer alone.   The attacks on hospitals, schools and aid workers have paralysed humanitarian work in too many areas. NRC is working to demilitarise schools after some 1150 schools were attacked or occupied in 2018 adding half a million children to the rising number of children without education.   "Mazullah, a displaced father of five I met in Kandahar can no longer walk due to an air strike on his home after Taliban forces had taken over his village.   "His wish was for his sons and daughters to get the education and the livelihoods that he and his wife were denied. With hopes for a peace deal among armed men, now is the time for increased support to the growing numbers of war victims.   "Countries that have been involved in waging war must not turn their back on the civilians who have bore the brunt of 40 years of violence," said Egeland.   http://www.nrc.no/news/2019/february/afghanistan-record-numbers-of-casualties-amid-peace-talks/ http://media.ifrc.org/ifrc/press-release/afghanistan-ten-million-afghans-face-severe-hardship-extreme-weather/   * Afghan Women's Network: http://awn-af.net/press
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