The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is appealing for more money to fund its work in dozens of conflict zones including Afghanistan in the coming year. In its recent report, ICRC has appealed
for 2.8 billion Swiss francs to fund its work in 2023.
According to the report, humanitarian needs in dozens of countries from Yemen to Somalia, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo are rising, a pattern that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) expects to continue in 2023.
For the millions of people in these countries reliant on humanitarian assistance, greater support is desperately needed to save lives and avert further suffering.
This comes amid of increasing complaints from Afghan needy people of the unfair distribution of aids in the country.
According to the people, some aids from international organizations are distributed unfairly as international aids to the people have not helped reduce poverty in the country.
“International organizations usually appeal for more money to address humanitarian needs in Afghanistan, but when they get the money and aids, they fail to distribute the aids to the needy people in a fair way as their aids have not helped reduce poverty in the country,” two Kabul residents told The Kabul Times correspondent.
According to the two needy citizens, poverty will surely decrease if the aids are distributed to the neediest
people in a fair way. They say community elders and relevant government and non-government organs are responsible to identify poor and needy families in villages and districts. In its report, the ICRC has said the international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine has wreaked havoc on global food and energy prices.
Nowhere are the impacts of rising food and energy prices felt harder than in communities impacted by armed conflict and violence.
For example, in 2022, ICRC’s market price monitoring saw food staples rise by 45% in Ethiopia and Yemen and over 30% in Mali, Afghanistan and Somalia.
According to the report, the economic situation in Afghanistan is worsening. At 33 ICRC-supported hospitals
across the country, child malnutrition cases are already 90% higher in 2022 compared to all of 2021, rising from 33,000 cases to over 63,000 so far this year. Meanwhile, at an ICRC supported children’s hospital
in Kabul, the number of children under 5 being treated for pneumonia has risen 55% in 2022 versus the same period last year.
Amid of increasing poverty in Afghanistan, the International Committee of the Red Cross hopes it will continue its humanitarian work in Afghanistan in 2023. Meanwhile, a Canadian senator has also asked
the Canadian government to ease ways for sending humanitarian aids to Afghanistan.
Senators are ramping up their push to get Ottawa to stop barring humanitarian workers from responding to devastating crises in Afghanistan.
“We’ve been waiting for months now for the government to do something, and they’re just dragging their
feet,” said Conservative Sen. Salma Ataullahjan.
“Really, come on — all our allies have found a way to work around it.”
This comes after the UN reported that nearly 60 percent of the Afghan population needs humanitarian aid to help with the collapse of food and health systems due to an economic crisis, natural disasters and armed conflict. Winter temperatures can plunge to – 25 C in some parts of the country.
Shukria Kohistani
ICRC appealing for more money to address humanitarian needs in conflict zones
