Tring Hike: Alleviate Hunger Spike in Afghanistan

On a January afternoon in a Kabul hospital 2022, 17 babies lay beside one another on small beds, their bony elbows touching. Some of them, pink and a little plumper, cried and wriggled as nurses rushed by. Others, their pallid skin shades of blue and grey, were still—save for their skeletal rib cages silently rising and falling. The infants often weigh less than 4 pounds when they arrive in the neonatal intensive-care unit. Pregnant women across Afghanistan are increasingly malnourished, and their bodies, unable to carry their babies to full term, give birth prematurely. About a third of the children who arrive at the unit do not survive.

The Disasters Emergency Committee says that 95% of Afghans do not have enough to eat, and one million children are at risk of dying from malnutrition this winter. Women and other vulnerable people are especially hard-hit.

'We used to cook once a day and that was good. Now it’s once a week and sometimes there isn’t even any bread to eat.”

Massouma, a 26-year-old mother of four from Maidan Wardak province.

The Taliban’s seizure of power last August brought economic collapse, and drought has exacerbated the crisis. One UN expert believes that no modern economy has experienced such an abrupt shock, with the overnight loss of foreign aid amounting to 43% of GDP. Work and salaries disappeared. The economic crisis has worsened where most Afghans live on less than $2 a day. The price of essential imports such as wheat surged. Asset freezes and sanctions have deepened the crisis. The start of a harsh winter is bitterly cold, with temperatures that can drop below freezing and biting winds. Afghanistan is nearing the breakdown of virtually the entire health system and other basic services, jeopardizing the wellbeing of millions of Afghans.

“We got two sacks of flour last spring which we’re still using. After that, we have to have faith that God will help us,”

57-year-old from Bamiyan province.

Afghanistan crisis facts:

- A record 23 million Afghans - more than half the population - face acute hunger, with nearly 9 million one step from famine.

-World Food Programme (WFP).- Up to 1 million children under five are at risk of dying from malnutrition.

- Four-fifths of the country is experiencing severe or serious drought. About 70% of Afghans live in rural areas, and 85% derive income from agriculture.

- About 3.5 million Afghans have been internally displaced by violence, drought and other disasters, including 700,000 last year.

- The U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) has warned that 97% could fall below the poverty line by mid-2022.

Your Donations:

Islamic Unity Society (IUS) in partnership with The Imam Hussein Foundation (IHF) has organised a hike in the Chilterns Hills on 29/01/22 to help raise desperate funds for starving families in Afghanistan. Please help us reach our target of 10K. £50 will provide the following for a family of 5 for 1 month:

• 15kg Flour
• 20Kg Rice
• 5 litre Cooking Oil

In addition, The Imam Hussein Foundation with the support of a local registered organisation-Paighambar Azam Cultural & Tableegh Foundation in Karte Sakhi- Kabul have set up a kitchen to distribute 1000 hot meals per day to the most vulnerable who are homeless and living on the streets:

£100 will help feed 200 hungry people in a day

Our target of £10,000 will feed 20,000 malnourished people and save them from STARVATION

WITH A FEW CLICKS YOU CAN HELP SAVE LIVES!

Remember by donating you are making a DIFFERENCE!

Help us stave off hunger, disease, malnutrition and ultimately death in Afghanistan by supporting the Tring Hike: Alleviate Hunger Spike campaign