Afghanistan Situation To Worsen Due To Drought, COVID-19, Winter: UNICEF

UNICEF director Henrietta Fore said in a statement on Monday that 'this is the grim reality facing Afghan children and it remains so regardless of ongoing political developments'

Associated Press

Updated on: 23 August 2021 5:46 pm

The UN agency for children expects the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan to worsen due to a severe drought, the onset of winter and the coronavirus pandemic.

UNICEF says 10 million children in Afghanistan already survive on humanitarian assistance and around a million are expected to suffer from life-threatening malnutrition this year. It says some 4.2 million children, including 2.2 million girls, are out of school.

Afghanistan was a poor country, reliant on international aid, even before the Taliban took over earlier this month.

UNICEF director Henrietta Fore said in a statement on Monday that “this is the grim reality facing Afghan children and it remains so regardless of ongoing political developments and changes in government.”

She says the agency is committed to remaining in Afghanistan and is scaling up its operations. UNICEF hopes to provide aid in areas that were unreachable because of the ongoing war. (AP)