Cafod’s latest donation figure for the Afghanistan Crisis Appeal has now received over £1.1m, with donations still coming in. Cafod works with Afghanistan civil society organisations which, she said, “have procedures in place to make sure that when, for example, they are doing a cash distribution or in some cases we are giving food baskets which are feeding families for two months those receiving are the most in need.” Cafod partners are providing short-term cash assistance to more than 8,000 small-scale farming families, approximately 56,000 people, in more than 50 of the most drought-affected villages in the country to allow them to buy basic food for their families and plant their crops for next season.
Cafod’s head of Middle East, Janet Symes, said: “All the information we are getting from colleagues and the organisations we work very closely with in Afghanistan is that the situation is desperate.” The weather is very cold at the moment, with areas cut off for weeks on end, and that is why the agencies came together in December to launch the Disasters Emergency Committee Appeal, which has now raised more than £30 million.
According to a Christian Aid staff member in Afghanistan, the recent conflict and change of government, coupled with the worst drought in 27 years, have tipped the country over the edge into humanitarian crisis. Economic collapse has sent food prices soaring. Afghanistan’s health care system has reached the brink of collapse. Those who have fled the violence are forced to live in tents. Christian Aid’s support includes providing winter kits to help displaced families stay warm and supplying clean drinking water.
The humanitarian situation has deteriorated since mid-August when the Taliban took over the capital Kabul and took control of Afghanistan. Over half the country’s population – around 22.8 million people – are facing acute hunger this winter, the UN World Food Programme has warned. A million children under the age of five are at risk of dying over the next three months.
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