Aina* (30), a mother and beneficiary of a cash distribution programme, with two of her children in Daykundi Province, Afghanistan on 28 May 2022. *Pseudonym used
The people of Northern Ireland have raised over £800,000 for families in Afghanistan facing acute hunger, cold, and lack of medical care as part of the DEC Afghanistan Crisis Appeal.
Launched in December to raise urgent funds for humanitarian response in the country, the appeal has raised an incredible £50 million in the UK, including £10 million matched by the UK Government.
This generosity has allowed DEC charities to provide a lifeline to hundreds of thousands of people in Afghanistan, where drought, economic collapse and rising global food prices have pushed millions to the brink of famine.
In Northern Ireland, the DEC brings together the charities Concern Worldwide, Save the Children, the British Red Cross and Tearfund.
In the first six months of the appeal, DEC funds have supported:
Over 243,000 people with cash assistance, giving them flexibility to meet their own family’s unique needs, for example to buy food, medicines or fuel.
Over 131,000 people with emergency food supplies including, for instance, wheat flour, vegetable oil, pulses, salt and rice.
Over 100,000 people with health services, including medicines, vaccines and maternal and newborn care.
Over 2,900 children under five and pregnant or lactating women with treatment for acute malnutrition.
Abdul-Karim* (56) walks with the help of a cane in the Daykundi Province, Afghanistan on 28 May 2022. * Pseudonym used
Despite this, a crisis of this magnitude is not quickly resolved. Some 18.9 million people - nearly half the population - are estimated to remain acutely food insecure, while 3.9 million children are acutely malnourished.
DEC funds are continuing to support people in Afghanistan. As well as emergency support, the charity is helping to build for a more stable future, including funding water and irrigation schemes to help counter the drought, cash for work projects so breadwinners can support their families while doing work that benefits the community, and livelihoods initiatives and vocational training to help people get back on their feet.
Kevin McCaughan, Senior Institutional Programme Funding Officer at the British Red Cross said:
“People in Afghanistan are facing unimaginable circumstances. We know through our own work in the country that the situation has been dire for many years, yet the last number of months have pushed many more into crisis. This money has gone a long way in providing cash assistance, emergency food supplies and access to healthcare, and we thank the people of Northern Ireland for their support.”
Salah Saeed, CEO of the DEC, said:
"People in Afghanistan suffered a terrible winter and spring with millions struggling to feed their families. Donations to the DEC Afghanistan Crisis Appeal have helped provide a lifeline to hundreds of thousands of those most in need, providing food or the money to buy it. The funds are also helping provide specialist treatment for children and mothers suffering acute malnutrition. They've also provided much-needed medical care to at least 100,000 people who had nowhere else to go when they fell ill. Thank you so much to everyone who donated to this appeal. You have made a huge difference to so many people caught up in a crisis far beyond their control and desperately in need of help."