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Child pneumonia, malnutrition spikes as Afghan families face impossible choice: eat or heat

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As winter sets in across Afghanistan and as the economic crisis worsens, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reports a spike in cases of child pneumonia and malnutrition.

At 33 ICRC-supported hospitals across the country, child malnutrition cases are already 90 percent higher in 2022 compared to all of 2021, rising from 33,000 cases to over 63,000 so far this year. Meanwhile, at an ICRC-supported children’s hospital in Kabul, the number of children under 5 being treated for pneumonia has risen 55 percent in 2022 versus the same period last year.

“The poverty level in Afghanistan has increased compared to past years. Most people cannot buy material to keep their homes and children warm. They also cannot afford to feed their children properly so pneumonia cases are rising, and the number of malnutrition cases linked to pneumonia will rise, too,” said Dr. Abdul Qayum Azeemi, an ICRC doctor who coordinates ICRC’s programme in Kabul’s Indira Ghandhi hospital.

Despite a significant decrease in the intensity of the fighting, the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan remains alarming. More than half the population (24 million people) need humanitarian assistance and half (20 million people) are acutely food insecure. The deepening economic crisis further impacted by international sanctions and the economic consequences of the Russia-Ukraine international armed conflict makes it impossible for millions of Afghans to make ends meet. Wheat, cooking oil and fertilizer prices have risen. People lost income sources and used up their financial reserves. The agricultural sector has also been impacted by earthquakes, droughts and floods.

“Afghan families face an impossible choice: To eat or to buy heat. And, really, they can’t afford either, resulting in a frightening rise in malnutrition and pneumonia cases,” Martin Schüepp, ICRC’s director of operations, said during his visit to Afghanistan this week. “Aid organizations can’t answer all the overwhelming cries for help. That’s why we’re urging states and development agencies to return to Afghanistan to continue providing support to the millions here in need.”

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WFP delivers life-saving food to nearly 250,000 in Afghanistan

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The World Food Programme (WFP) has announced in a report that the organization was able to reach nearly 250,000 food-insecure people across Afghanistan with the assistance from China in the past few months.

The report said WFP was able to procure more than 2,000 metric tons of food, including fortified wheat flour and fortified vegetable oil, yellow split peas and salt which was distributed to more than 35,000 families or nearly 250,000 people across the country.

“Entire communities across Afghanistan experience despair and hunger,” said Ma Chen Guang, Counsellor of Economic and Commercial Affairs of the Chinese Embassy in Afghanistan, at a ceremony in Kabul on Thursday."

“China will continue to work with the World Food Programme to provide food assistance to hungry Afghan families in need of assistance for survival.”

The report stated: “The contribution from China came at a critical moment when a massive funding shortfall put at risk WFP’s work in Afghanistan. Last year, WFP had to cut 10 million people from assistance and this summer, due to the ongoing funding crisis, 11 million people did not receive emergency food assistance.

“This included more than 2 million mothers and their children who received no specialized supplementary food to combat malnutrition.”

“Afghanistan remains a global hunger hotspot and more than three-quarters of all people across the country cannot afford a nutritious diet that keeps them from falling into malnutrition,” said Hsiao-Wei Lee, Country Director of WFP Afghanistan.
“Families across the country need continued emergency food assistance to get through the winter months.”

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UK, Qatari officials discuss Afghanistan

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Qatar’s Minister of State for International Cooperation, Lolwah bint Rashid Al Khater, met Tuesday with Director for Pakistan and Afghanistan at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Andrew McCoubrey, on the sidelines of the World Humanitarian Forum in London.

During the meeting, they detailed cooperation relations between the two countries and ways to boost them and discussed the humanitarian and development conditions in Afghanistan, especially in the fields of health and education, Qatar’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

They also exchanged views on joint cooperation in humanitarian and development projects in Afghanistan, according to the statement.

Meanwhile, Suhail Shaheen, head of the Islamic Emirate's political office in Qatar, has met with the Turkish ambassador to Doha to discuss bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Turkey.

Shaheen said on X that the meeting also discussed education, health, agriculture and investment opportunities in Afghanistan.

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IEA appoints delegation to probe reports of massacre on Iran-Pakistan border

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The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has appointed a delegation to investigate reports of Afghans being killed on the Iran-Pakistan border.

Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, said the delegation is headed by Mullah Mohammad Ibrahim Sadr, the deputy interior minister for security.

He said the delegation has been tasked to investigate the matter thoroughly and comprehensively and submit its report to the prime minister's office and receive necessary instructions for further action.

Fitrat added that the delegation began its work on Wednesday and is trying to find out the truth as soon as possible.

On Tuesday, an Iranian-based human rights organization, Haalvsh, claimed Iranian forces had gunned down at least 260 Afghan migrants near the Kalgan Saravan region in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province on Sunday evening.

 

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