Caritas appeals for funds as winter approaches in Afghanistan

|PIC1|Caritas is appealing for £1.8 million to help Afghans in the face of an imminent harsh winter.

The Catholic aid agency also wants to provide immediate relief for some 60,000 victims of ongoing droughts and floods in the country.

The relief includes food and employment programmes and helping families to decrease their vulnerability through training, community projects and greenhouse sponsoring. Other essential items include tools, seeds and fertilisers.

Scott Braunschweig, the Kabul representative of Caritas partner Catholic Relief Services, said poverty was widespread in Afghanistan.

“Often overlooked in discussions on Afghanistan is the widespread poverty and vulnerability. Regular natural and man-made shocks can push poor families and whole communities to the brink of survival. Families adopt negative strategies to survive, which undermine future efforts, and lead to a steady decline for those involved,” he said.

Caritas warned that communities in central and western Afghanistan had been “devastated” by years of drought and a severe winter in 2008 and that the needs of families had only grown as a result of the food and economic crises. Many households in farming communities have attempted to cope with the crises by borrowing money and selling off assets like cattle and sheep.

The aid agency said that harsh winter weather could drive people to sell their cattle and tools just to buy enough food to keep from going hungry.

Surveys conducted by Caritas in the last few months have found that the majority of families in rural communities are heavily in debt and hold on average less than half the livestock they had two years ago.

Caritas said it was aiming to “sustain and rebuild” rural communities affected by the drought and severe winter weather in the lead up to next year’s harvest.