Saturday, December 27, 2008

AIHRC: Poverty in the rise in Afghanistan

10 million people in the country suffer from severe poverty, says the commission

RAWA NEWS, Dec 24, 2008

Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has expressed concerns over the increasing poverty in the country.

Poverty hits over 37 percent of Afghan people.
Nazanin said she had to sell one of her daughters to pay her debts. She said she also has to sell her other daughters to survive.

According to the latest report by the commission, about ten million people in Afghanistan which make 37% of the population, suffer from severe poverty. Also a large number of people in Afghanistan earn less than Afg.50 (1.0 US$) in a day.

The commission has warned that if no attention is paid to this problem, the country will face a humanitarian disaster this winter.

The Anti-natural Disasters Struggle Department (ADSD) has confirmed the report and says that food has been delivered to the country’s most vulnerable provinces so far.

ADSD said the Afghan government has made serious efforts to solve this problem, and is planning to distribute more than 30,000 tons of food to the needy people in Kabul and other provinces.

Nazanin, one of these vulnerable people who has eight children, said her husband had left her and she had to sell one of her daughters to pay her debts. She said she also has to sell her other daughters to survive.

She said her children even spend nights without having dinner.

Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission says lack of job opportunities, droughts, lack of public welfare projects and the bad security situation are among the main reasons for the increasing poverty in the country.

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