By Nicole Harris

International aid organization World Vision warned today that Afghanistan’s children are at risk of starvation, forced marriage and child labor unless the international community responds immediately.

Their new report, “Afghanistan: A Children’s Crisis,” surveyed over 800 parents, caregivers and children to see how their lives had changed in the year since the country’s political transition.

In surveyed areas, the mean income per household is less than a dollar a day (USD $0.95) and over half (53%) of the households surveyed have a child who is acutely malnourished.

“Parents and caregivers are facing devastating situations,” said Asuntha Charles, World Vision’s national director for Afghanistan. “Their children are starving, so they’re left with no choice.  They must either send their children to work or arrange child marriage to ensure their survival. This is a choice no parent should ever be forced to make.”

To help support their families, 7 of 10 boys and over half of girls in surveyed areas were working rather than attending school; 57% of caregivers reported that their children have missed school.

“Children are experiencing significant mental health issues as a result of recent changes; 66% of the parents we spoke to shared that a child in their care had demonstrated signs of psychosocial distress,” said Charles.

The report observes that Afghanistan’s public health system is in crisis, with the contraction of maternal, newborn and child health services and the reduction of trained personnel rolling back years of progress. This has created significant risk for women and children, with 64% of babies delivered at home and less than a third of births attended by a skilled professional.

The NGO warns that this is very likely to contribute to a rise in infant and maternal mortality, noting that while governments and decision makers around the world have prioritized other emergencies, the children of Afghanistan have been forgotten. Although economic sanctions on the country have a clear exception for humanitarian aid, not all governments are funding this important work, putting too many Afghan children at risk of early death.

This humanitarian crisis, referred to by the U.N. as one of the world’s worst, is being exacerbated by volatile political, economic and climate events. World Vision urgently calls on the international community to support Afghanistan’s people in protecting the country’s children.

To read the report, please visit https://www.wvi.org/publications/afghanistan/afghanistan-childrens-crisis