In an update on the situation in Afghanistan, UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund) published a statement saying that “between November 2021 and March 2022, further deterioration in food security is expected, with the number of people in need reaching 22.8 million. This marks a 37% increase in the number of Afghans facing acute hunger since the assessment issued in April 2021.”
The statement adds that “an estimated 30,000 children under-five suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) were provided with lifesaving treatment services through mobile teams and Basic Package of Health Services (BPHS) health facilities across the country.”
The statement also notes that UNICEF ”welcomed the de facto Afghan authority’s decision to support polio vaccination which will start on November 8th across Afghanistan, reaching 10 million children.”
Elaborating in more detail on the situation in Afghanistan, UNICEF notes 18.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, 18.8 million people food insecure, 9,700,000 children in need of humanitarian assistance, and 682,981 internally displaced people since January 2021.
UNICEF also says, “Severe drought conditions continue throughout the country with 53% of water points drying up due to drought in Badghis, Faryab and Ghor provinces,” while at the same time, as winter continues to approach, high-altitude locations such as Bamyan, Ghazni, Nuristan, Wardak, and Paktya drive the need for provision of life-saving winter assistance for most households. Without support for winter clothing, blankets, and a sustained fuel source for heating, households in need will face significant uncertainties in the winter. Plans for snow clearance, a task previously undertaken by the government, remain unclear, because no specific financial allocation has been made available for contractors. Without this critical service in the provinces, roads to the districts will be closed leaving large populations without access to basic services.``
