United Nations: The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), launching its larg-est ever single-country ap-peal, has said it needs $2 bil-lion to respond to the humani-tarian needs of 24 million people in Afghanistan, half of whom are children.
UNICEF said the $2 billion appeal will help to avert the imminent collapse of health, education and other crucial social services for children and their families.
According to UNICEF, with the deterioration of the situa-tion in Afghanistan, and the breakdown of the health sys-tem along with the food crisis, droughts, outbreaks of mea-sles, acute watery diarrhea, polio, and other preventable diseases, millions of children are in need of support.
“The current humanitarian situation in Afghanistan is dire, especially for children. Winter has already set in and, without additional funding, UNICEF and partners will be unable to reach the children and families that need us the most,” said Alice Akunga, UNICEF Afghanistan Repre-sentative.
UNICEF says that with the economic problems and the families’ inability to feed their children properly, millions of Afghan children are at risk of starvation.
“As families struggle to put nu-tritious food on the table and health systems are further strained, millions of Afghan children are at risk of starva-tion and death. —Agencies
