Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/ KABUL: Afghanistan’s worst winter resulting in freezing temperatures in more than a decade has resulted in at least 78 deaths from cold, according to the authorities.
Officials said that death from the cold had been recorded in eight provinces of the country. With temperatures as low as -34 degrees Celsius (-29.2 degrees Fahrenheit), Afghanistan has had its coldest winter in 15 years. At the same time, the country is experiencing a dire economic crisis.
Due to the Taliban ruling against the working of female NGO workers, many aid groups have partially suspended their operations in recent weeks.
Humanitarian aid needed amid freezing temperatures
Abdullah Ahmadi from the disaster management ministry said, “In the next few days, the weather will get colder. Therefore, there is a dire need to consider humanitarian aid for affected people,” Last week, The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said that the ban on female workers hampers efforts to provide aid.
UNOCHA said, “Humanitarian partners are providing winterization support to families, including cash for fuel, warm clothes, and heating, but the ban has negatively impacted distributions of these items.”
Health workers, in early winter, had reported an alarming increase in the number of children suffering from severe pneumonia and other respiratory diseases, partly due to economic crises and poverty that left people unable to heat their homes adequately.
In the past nine days, around 77,000 livestock have also died due to cold, which is also a threat to deepening food insecurity for the country.
UNOCHA said in a Twitter message, “Lost assets and livelihoods endanger Afghan families at a time when 21.2 million people urgently need continued agricultural and food support.”
