Afghans forced to sell their children to afford meals, claims IFFRAS report

Amid the chaotic situation in Afghanistan, lakhs of citizens are now facing hardship to afford basic requirements such as meals and other facilities, reported news agency ANI citing the reports of IFFRAS. According to the Canada-based think tank International Forum for Rights and Security (IFFRAS), the situation in Afghanistan is now worsening with each passing day, with the people being forced to sell their children to get a meal. The report says that the Afghans face these issues since the Taliban ousted the democratic government and took charge of an already debt-ridden country.

"There are reports that 95% of Afghans do not have enough food to eat while half of the population is expected to face acute levels of hunger as winter sets in early November," IFFRAS said.

The UN data revealed around 10 million people are affected due to the sudden change of government. Those who were working on a daily basis, are now jobless with no hope of getting in the near future. Notably, the cumulative study was filed by Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) and Food Security and Agriculture Cluster of Afghanistan, co-led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN and the UN World Food Programme (WFP). Further, it noted that the condition deteriorated heavily due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

"Hunger is rising and children are dying. We can't feed people on promises - funding commitments must turn into hard cash, and the international community must come together to address this crisis, which is fast spinning out of control," David Beasley, WFP Executive Director. The IPC report reflects a 37 per cent increase in the number of Afghans facing acute hunger since the last assessment issued in April 2021, WFP said.

According to a WFP release, the blended impacts of drought, conflict, COVID-19, and the economic crisis, have severely affected lives, livelihoods, and people's access to food. As the winter is approaching, the report mentioned that the Afghans have to rely on humanitarian assistance in order to survive the bone-chilling situation.  More than one in two Afghans will be suffering trauma or distress levels of severe food insecurity through November 2021 to March 2022 lean season, according to IPC reports. The report noted that this is the toughest situation that the Afghans are facing in the past 11 years.

"Afghanistan is now among the world's worst humanitarian crises"

Afghanistan is home to one of the largest numbers of people in acute food insecurity in both absolute and relative terms. "It is urgent that we act efficiently and effectively to speed up and scale up our delivery in Afghanistan before winter cuts off a large part of the country, with millions of people - including farmers, women, young children and the elderly - going hungry in the freezing winter. It is a matter of life or death. We cannot wait and see humanitarian disasters unfolding in front of us - it is unacceptable!" said QU Dongyu, The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Director-General.                                     

"Afghanistan is now among the world's worst humanitarian crises - if not the worst - and food security has all but collapsed. This winter, millions of Afghans will be forced to choose between migration and starvation unless we can step up our life-saving assistance, and unless the economy can be resuscitated. We are on a countdown to catastrophe and if we don't act now, we will have a total disaster on our hands," said WFP Executive Director. 

With inputs from ANI

Image: AP