The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has launched a global fundraising winter campaign to help forcibly displaced families to avert a “crisis of hunger and starvation” in Afghanistan as winter sets in.
“People don’t have enough to eat, and it’s very visible,” UNHCR Spokesperson Babar Baloch said in Geneva following his recent return from Kabul.
Baloch said a lack of insulated shelters, warm clothes, insufficient food, fuel for heating, and medical supplies are just some of the deprivations confronting people who have been forcibly displaced.
With temperatures “expected to drop to -25C, many displaced families lack proper shelter ñ a primary requirement if they are too survive the bitter cold,” he warned.
UNHCR is appealing for increased support for 3.5 million people displaced by conflict inside Afghanistan, including 700,000 from 2021 alone.
According to Baloch, nearly 23 million people, or 55 per cent of the population, are facing extreme levels of hunger ñì nearly nine million of whom are at risk of famine.
This year, UNHCR has assisted some 700,000 displaced people across the country, the majority since mid-August.
The UN agency said it is helping nearly 60,000 people every week.
“But as we reach thousands of people, we find thousands more people who are in need of humanitarian assistance,” Baloch explained, before appealing for “further resources for the most vulnerable”.
He identified “single mothers with no shelter or food for their children”, displaced older persons left to care for orphaned grandchildren, and people taking care of loved ones with special needs.”
The UNHCR spokesperson noted that the agency’s teams have delivered relief supplies via road through Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries and humanitarian flights.
Five more flights carrying winter supplies are scheduled for next week, Baloch said, reiterating that support to cope with the extreme conditions will continue until February, including core relief items, such as thermal blankets and warm winter clothing.
Shelters are also being repaired and reinforced, and vulnerable families are receiving cash assistance.
The spokesman thanked governments and private donors for their support to UNHCR efforts to aid and protect vulnerable families during the winter months.
However, he added that a further $374.9 million was urgently needed to bolster UNHCR’s response to Afghanistan next year, particularly, over winter.
