The last of the international military forces pulled out of Kabul on Tuesday. The war took a deadly cost on children: Almost 33,000 children have been killed and maimed in Afghanistan over the past 20 years, an average of one child every five hours.
Temporary shelters where internally displaced Afghan families have fled to after being forced to leave their homes due to the armed conflict.
The real number of direct child-casualties of the conflict will likely be much higher than the estimated 32,945, and this number does not include children who have died due to hunger, poverty and disease in that time.
Even before the recent escalation in violence, nearly half of the population of Afghanistan – including nearly 10 million children – were in need of humanitarian assistance with drought, a third wave of COVID-19 as well as conflict driving the country even deeper into crisis. Half of all children aged under five were expected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year.
Hassan Noor, Asia Regional Director for Save the Children, said:
“As the last military planes fly out of Kabul it is a sad truth that, along with the planes, the international coverage, attention and support Afghanistan has received over the past few weeks are also likely to depart. But while the rest of world moves on, millions of Afghan children will go to bed tonight hungry, grieving and unsure of what their futures hold.”
What remains after 20 years is a generation of children whose entire lives have been blighted by the misery and impact of war. The magnitude of human suffering of the past two decades is beyond comprehension.
“Every single child born and raised in Afghanistan has known nothing but conflict, and lived in the certainty that explosives could go off at any moment, or bombs could fall out of the sky. They have seen siblings succumb to hunger, poverty or disease. As we speak, thousands of families who have been forced to flee their homes are living outside in the open with not even a blanket to protect them from the bitter winter ahead. A nightmare scenario is unfolding before our very eyes.
“The military has left, but we urgently call on the international community to stay and support the children of Afghanistan. With food, clean water, shelter, with education – if this doesn’t happen, the efforts of the last 20 years will truly have been in vain.”
“It’s vital to restart some programmes to help avoid a disaster from unfolding down the line,” said Hassan Noor, Asia Regional Director for Save the Children. ”Children are going hungry, they are out of school, winter is coming – urgent action is needed.”
The organisation said without urgent help, tens of thousands of children could lose their lives to malnutrition and disease in a country heading into winter, when temperatures can drop as low as -16°C, with freezing nights and frequent snowfall.
Call on the international community
Hassan Nour finds clear words: “We urge the international community to keep supporting the work of national and international NGO’s in their vital work to reach the most vulnerable – including the tens of thousands of families that have left Afghanistan. And we urge the new authorities to grant humanitarian organisations safe, unfettered and unconditional access to those most in need as soon as possible. Children and their families in Afghanistan are facing a drought, COVID-19 and a harsh winter – there is no time to wait.”