KABUL (Khaama Press): In a press release, Save The Children organization reported, that more than 300,000 Afghan children are facing challenging freezing climate conditions in Afghanistan adding that without proper clothing and heating, it could lead to illness and in the worst cases to death.
In regions where weather temperature can plummet as low as -27 degrees Celsius, the schools and classrooms are only the sources of warmth, it is a terrible blow because schools are off until March of 2021. Chris Nyamandi, Save the Children’s Country Director in Afghanistan said, “The early snow in the northern parts of Afghanistan where we work has impacted children particularly badly. The most vulnerable children are those whose schools have shut because of the worsening winter conditions. Their families don’t have the money to buy winter clothing. Instead, children are forced to huddle at home to escape the bitter cold.”
“It also means it is more difficult for us to reach these children to provide them with winter clothing. We must go from home to home to deliver thick coats and blankets.” Nyamandi added. The ongoing conflict in the country forced many children into homelessness and forced them to shelter in camps, these children are at risk of hunger, diseases like covid-19, and even death from freezing temperatures.
Nyamandi also said, “The situation is bleak for children forced to live in camps in places like Balkh province. It is already very cold in this northern province with overnight temperatures as low as minus ten. But it will get much colder before March” adding that “Here, and in camps in other parts of Afghanistan, plastic sheeting and the clothes they wear are often all that separates them from the freezing temperatures”. “For thousands of children, the Afghan winter is a time of grim survival,” according to Nyamandi.
Earlier in August, WFP had announced that over 16 million afghans are threatened by lack of food, poverty, and requires humanitarian aid, 4 million of whom have lost their source of income were due to covid-19. Save the children said in May, that almost 2 million children may die of malnourishment and extreme hunger annually and due to a shortage of doctors, children may less likely get lifesaving treatments. Just recently the International Red Cross Committee reported that Afghanistan remains a dangerous place to be a civilian, mostly women and children were affected by the battles in the nation.
