The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that in the past month, hundreds of children in Afghanistan died due to cold weather and illnesses.
“Afghanistan’s brutal winter continues to take a heavy toll on the most vulnerable. Hundreds of children are reported to have died in January due to cold weather & illnesses,” UNICEF Afghanistan said in a tweet.
The State Ministry for Disaster Management said that in the past month, 180 people have died due to cold, flood and fire, and 30 others have been injured.
“So far, in twenty-four provinces of the nation, more than 180 people have died, more than 30 people have been injured, more than 150 homes have been entirely or partially damaged, and 83,000 livestock have perished,” said Mawlawi Abdullah Mohammadi, an official of the ministry.
Twelve-year-old orphan Roshanullah, who is in an orphanage in the province of Maidan Wardak, said that he and his friends urgently need warm clothing and food.
“There are six people in our house; it’s very cold outside; we don’t have fuel; it’s freezing in all the rooms; and we don’t have jackets,” said Roshanullah, an orphaned child.
According to some social affairs specialists, the government should provide fuel, medication, and medical care to residents in vulnerable areas in order to reduce and avoid citizen deaths during the cold season.
“The government should make fuel available, as well as provide medication and the means for treatment and travel to the people for free,” said Ahmad Fayeq, an expert in social affairs.
Earlier, international aid organizations, particularly UNICEF, criticized the ban on women working in foreign aid organizations and called for the lifting of the restrictions on the work of women in NGOs.
