Afghanistan: How to help people affected by conflict as Kabul falls to Taliban

Monday, 16 August 2021

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says work to get New Zealanders out of Afghanistan has ramped up, as commercial options become unavailable.

Millions of people in Afghanistan are in need of help after the Taliban took control of the Afghan presidential palace in Kabul.

World Vision said 18.4 million people, 8.2 million of whom are children, are in need of assistance.

The Taliban’s movements have caused fear within the population and many have fled their homes.

Half the population of Afghanistan is in need of help after the Taliban took control of the presidential palace in Kabul, World Vision says. (File photo)

The conflict has left 30 per cent of the population in a food insecurity crisis, and the Covid-19 pandemic is still rampant across the country, the charity said.

Thirty per cent of the population is in a food insecurity crisis. (File photo)

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“Families who are already struggling to survive destitution related to this conflict, a devastating drought and the effects of Covid-19, are now resorting to the most desperate of measures to protect their children, including child marriage,” World Vision national director Asuntha Charles said.

“They are now at their most vulnerable, and we cannot abandon them now.”

According to the charity Save the Children, about 80,000 Afghan children have been displaced from their homes in the past two months.

Half of all children under 5 are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year.

According to UNICEF’s most recent figures, from August 9, violence in the country had killed 27 children and injured 136 in the three days prior.

World Vision NZ is collecting donations for children affected by the unrest in Afghanistan.

Donations will go towards essentials including healthcare, food, shelter, and clean water.

UNICEF NZ will be setting up an emergency relief fund for people in the country. Check the UNICEF website for details.

Oxfam said it did not yet have a fund open for the people of Afghanistan, but was keeping in touch with people on the ground and monitoring the situation closely.

The Salvation Army and Red Cross have been contacted for comment.