Emaciated children in Kabul hospital point to hunger ‘catastrophe’ in Afghanistan
- Number of people living in near-famine conditions in Afghanistan has risen to 8.7 million, up by 3 million from earlier this year, says UN
- Around 60 per cent of population are said to suffer from acute hunger, including many youngsters; situation is a catastrophe, says World Food Programme
In Kabul’s main children’s hospital, two-and-a-half-year-old Guldana is sitting up in her bed, but she is too exhausted to even open her eyes. Her tiny body is wrapped in a blanket, only her emaciated face showing.
Guldana’s father, Jinnat Gul, said he can hardly afford to feed her and his other five children. He used to work going house to house collecting scrap goods and selling them. But for the past three months, work has dried up and he has hardly made any money.
“Before, I had enough work, I could provide food. We could have meat one or two times a week,” he said. Now his family mainly gets by on boiled potatoes. He said sometimes he only has bread soaked in green tea for his children, “just to give them something so they stop crying”.
The UN’s World Food Programme said on November 8 that the number of people on the edge of famine has risen to 45 million in 43 countries. The number is up from 42 million earlier this year.