ISLAMABAD
\nPeople in Afghanistan are at present facing a food insecurity and malnutrition crisis of \u201cunparalleled proportions\u201d, said the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator.
\nRamiz Alakbarov, who also serves as deputy special representative, issued a statement, saying that acute hunger in the country rose from 14 million in July to 23 million in March, forcing households to resort to \u201cdesperate measures\u201d to put food on the table.
\n\u201cUnacceptable trade-offs have caused untold suffering, reduced the quality, quantity, and diversity of food available, led to high levels of wasting in children, and other harmful impacts on the physical and mental wellbeing of women, men, and children,\u201d he spelled out.
\nA staggering 95 percent of Afghans are not getting enough to eat, with that number rising to almost 100 percent in female-headed households, according to the UN Resident Coordinator, who is also deputy head of the UN assistance mission, UNAMA. \u201cIt is a figure so high that it is almost inconceivable. Yet, devastatingly, it is the harsh reality,\u201d he said.
\nAlakbarov painted a picture of hospital wards filled with malnourished children, many weighing at age one what an infant of six months would weigh in a developed country, with some \u201cso weak they are unable to move\u201d.
\nAs Afghanistan continues to grapple with the effects of a terrible drought, the prospect of another bad harvest this year, a banking and financial crisis so severe that it has left more than 80 per cent of the population facing debt, and an increase in food and fuel prices, the UN official attested, \u201cwe cannot ignore the reality facing communities\u201d.
\n\u201cEnormous challenges lie ahead,\u201d he said, reiterating that the UN and partners are \u201cdoing everything we can\u201d to alleviate the impacts of hunger and malnutrition, while giving communities the means to protect and sustain their livelihoods in the future.
\nSo far this year, humanitarian partners have supported 8.2 million people with life-saving and life-sustaining food assistance, including emergency food rations, school meals, agricultural supplies and nutritious foods and supplements for nursing mothers and their infants.
\nOver the next months, the UN and its partners will continue to focus on scaling-up response activities, reaching previously underserved and remote areas that active conflict had rendered inaccessible.
\nAcute malnutrition rates in 28 out of 34 provinces are high with more than 3.5 million children in need of nutrition treatment support, said Dr. Alakbarov. He explained that since mid-August, over 2,500 nutrition treatment sites across all 34 provinces, both urban and rural, have been serving 800,000 acutely malnourished children, \u201cand we plan to reach 3.2 million affected children this year\u201d.
\n\u201cWe also aim to reach one million people through vocational skills training, one million children through school feeding, and millions more people both directly and indirectly through programmes that will protect and boost the agricultural livelihoods upon which so much of the population depends,\u201d added the UN Representative.
\nAlthough a massive humanitarian response mounted since August has prevented \u201cour worst fears from being realized over the winter,\u201d Dr. Alakbarov reminded that food insecurity and malnutrition remain \u201cat historic highs\u201d and require an \u201cimmediate, sustained, and large-scale humanitarian response.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD People in Afghanistan are at present facing a food insecurity and malnutrition crisis of \u201cunparalleled proportions\u201d, said the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator. Ramiz Alakbarov, who also serves as deputy special representative, issued a statement, saying that acute hunger in the country rose from 14 million in July to 23 million in March, forcing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-249779","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n