10 million Afghan children need humanitarian assistance to survive: UNICEF

Kabul: The United Nations Child Fund (UNICEF) reported that ten million Afghan children need immediate help as they lack access to sufficient food, medicine and drinking water.

According to UNICEF, due to a lack of access to basic needs, many children are malnourished they must lie in hospital beds, reported Tolo News.

"Today in Afghanistan there are nearly 10 million children in urgent need of humanitarian aid. Those least responsible for this crisis are paying the highest price. There are children within communities without access to water because of the drought. There are children missing out on critical vaccines," said Sam Mort, chief of communications for UNICEF in Afghanistan.

Displaced families said that they do not have sufficient funds to feed their children, reported Tolo News.

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The displaced families said they cannot afford to provide basic needs for their children. "The children need clothes and food. When there is no food and no clothes, the United Nations should help us," said Shahla, a displaced woman.

UNICEF said if the current situation continues, one million children under five in Afghanistan will suffer from severe acute malnutrition, reported Tolo News.

A number of doctors say that cases of malnourished children have increased in the past month.

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Mohammad Latif Baher, head of the Indira Gandhi Children Hospital in Kabul, said, "With the recent changes, the number of patients coming to our hospital has increased."

"If the international community does not pay attention to the people of Afghanistan, especially the children, Afghanistan will witness a human crisis," said Zarqa Yaftali, a children`s rights activist said. 

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