Status: 01.02.2022 12:00 p.m
According to UNICEF estimates, up to 13 million children in Afghanistan are threatened by hunger and cold. Without food donations and medical care, many of them would not survive the winter.
UNICEF is currently distributing mainly warm clothing such as shoes and winter jackets in Afghanistan, because it is down to minus 15 degrees and many families can no longer afford firewood due to the economic crisis. The managing director of the aid organization in Germany, Christian Schneider, returned from Afghanistan last weekend, where he had followed the delivery of aid packages.
The poverty of many people in the country is palpable, said Schneider ARD morning magazine:
The image of mothers sitting in the middle of the street between the passing trucks with small children to beg has stuck with me in particular. For me that was a sign of how great the desperation of these mothers must be.
There is a risk of starvation
Many families lack the bare essentials because the country’s economic decline accelerated after the Taliban took power, said the Managing Director of UNICEF Germany. Many children and young people in Afghanistan are already undernourished. According to UNICEF estimates, up to 13 million children are at risk of starvation and cold. Without food donations and medical care, many of them face starvation.
Despite the new regime in Kabul, UNICEF can remain active in large parts of the country, said Schneider. UNICEF can also ensure that donations of money or goods such as food and medicine do not fall into the hands of the Taliban, but actually reach those in need.
UNICEF: The children in Afghanistan urgently need help
Lothar Lenz, ARD Berlin, February 1, 2022 11:38 a.m