The Child Malnutrition Epidemic of Afghanistan

In the deserts of the middle east, Afghanistan can be found nestled behind Pakistan and Iran. Known for its arid climate and desert landscapes, Afghanistan’s citizens are exposed to dry and unforgiving conditions, making it that much more difficult to have access to a steady food supply and nutrients. Combine the severe climate and precarious government/economic structure and it only makes sense that Afghanistan has one of the highest childhood mortality rates due to severe malnutrition in the world (Mayhew, Maureen, et al., 1). According to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund’s “UNICEF” Afghanistan Appeal — Humanitarian Action for Children, “In 2022, 8.7 million people will be in emergency level food insecurity and 1 in 2 children under 5 years will be acutely malnourished” (“Afghanistan Appeal). The child malnutrition epidemic in Afghanistan has reached a point where if no action is done soon, the effects will be irrevocable, affecting future generations of children and overall health of Afghanistan citizens. Taking into account the recent governmental shift within the country and the United States’ choice to remove all of our troops from the country, the ways in which this issue could be combatted has grossly changed, making it much harder for this issue to be addressed. Some believe the current government should deal with child malnutrition however, that is not feasible because the current administration governing Afghanistan does not have the stability, resources, or frankly, the incentive to properly address the high malnutrition rates. Therefore, I argue that the only way to tackle raising child malnutrition is through non-governmental and non-profit organizations whose sole purposes are to help those in need.

To better understand the urgency of the child malnutrition epidemic, it’s important to consider the economic and political status of Afghanistan. Afghanistan is classified as a third world country and up until recently, was receiving military and political support from the United States along with the countries part of the North Atlantic Trade Organization “NATO”. Post 9/11 attacks led by Al Qaeda in the United States, the US government announced their intention to invade Afghanistan who were harboring and aiding Al Qaeda leaders. The current administration in Afghanistan, a terrorist group called the Taliban, refused to give these members up and thus the invasion ensued and was won by the United States. The invasion of Afghanistan created an effort by the United States to rebuild “a failed state and establish a Western-style democracy” (Zucchino). Yet, in 2021 the Biden administration pulled all American troops out of the country and withdrew completely from governmental aid, which led to the Taliban re-establishing its rule, which in turn, made child malnutrition rates sky rocket due to the conflict and unstable economy.

The biggest contributing factor of acute child malnutrition is the political instability found within Afghanistan’s borders. In the past two decades, the country has seen immense change both politically and socially. During the early 2000’s, when United States was occupying Afghanistan and attempting to establish a “Western-style democracy,” the citizens of Afghanistan saw a large humanitarian effort aimed to help alleviate the pre-existing humanitarian crisis’ such as child malnutrition. After facing 25+ years of conflict from civil wars to foreign powers invading their borders, the Afghanistan Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) was finally able to re-establish itself and rebuild some of its facilities (Mayhew, Maureen, et al., 2). In these facilities, programs and policies were created that focused on the health needs of malnourished women and children. The programs developed, were community based and had a particular emphasis on growth monitoring that promoted “regular growth-monitoring sessions for children under the age of five and the provision of nutritional counselling based on the weight gained and the child’s age” (Mayhew, Maureen, et al., 3). Within these programs health professionals distributed scales and showed mothers how to properly weigh and keep track of their child’s progress. Yet, in a study published in 2014 that surveyed the work put into helping the malnutrition crisis, revealed that “malnutrition in children less than 60 months of age remains high despite nutritional services being offered in health facilities since 2003” (Mayhew, Maureen, et al., 1). Despite the effort made largely on the government’s part to help the situation, rates continued to be high revealing that more attention was required on this issue.

To make matters worse, since the United States’ withdrawal in 2021 there has been an increased amount of conflict found in Afghanistan since the overtaking of the Taliban, causing malnutrition rates to raise even more. After the United States withdrew, all humanitarian efforts established were discontinued; the world effectively froze all Afghanistan foreign aid accounts, leaving the Taliban with no money and a broken country they were responsible for breaking in the first place (Faiola). According to a non-profit organization called Save the Children, during the winter of 2021, just a couple months after the Taliban’s restoration, 14 million children from a total population of roughly 40 million faced life-threatening levels of hunger. It’s estimated that in the next year, up to one million children could be so severely malnourished that they could be at risk of dying unless they get the treatment they so desperately need (AFGHANISTAN: NUMBER OF MALNOURISHED CHILDREN AT SAVE THE CHILDREN CLINICS DOUBLED SINCE AUGUST). This particular organization has a handful of mobile health clinics found throughout the country and according to their most recent report of 2021, “Save the Children’s mobile health clinics treated more than 12,000 children for malnutrition” (AFGHANISTAN: NUMBER OF MALNOURISHED CHILDREN AT SAVE THE CHILDREN CLINICS DOUBLED SINCE AUGUST). Since being cut off, the Taliban has done nothing, absolutely nothing for its citizens and from what it looks like to outsiders, is letting the rest of the world attempt to solve their very serious humanitarian problems. Having won the country over through military power, the Taliban has yet to implement the rule of law and protecting order (Kermani). The Taliban seems more concerned with segregating genders than the health of its citizens. As opposed to creating support systems or ways to get food for the children suffering, the Taliban has shut down public universities and has enforced private universities male and female students to be separated by a curtain if studying or attending class in the same classroom (Kermani). The priorities of the Taliban are wrongly centered around establishing their rigid religious and cultural ideals as opposed to listening to what the country desperately needs; help in food security and malnutrition. Hope cannot rest with the Taliban and must be sought out using different avenues.

Some people may argue that the humanitarian crisis found in Afghanistan should remain the country’s own problem to solve, however, I argue that until a stable and just government is established, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) should take the lead on helping as many children as they can due to their lack of governmental affiliation and straightforward mission. NGOs and non-profits can compensate for the lack of governmental support for the time being through continuing to offer services to help the children of Afghanistan. These services can come in the form of mobile clinics, temporary clinics, travelling groups of health professionals, or possibly educational programs. One of the biggest logical reasons why NGOs would prove to be the most fruitful option is because of the people that typically work for or with these organizations. Whereas in governments, paid employees are usually working on a low salary and typically don’t feel as passionate about the work they do. But with NGOs and non-profits, volunteers sign up to work for these places and receive no pay. Instead, they receive their payment through helping to save lives. What I mean by this is the people working for non-profits are passionate about the work being done, so much so that many of the volunteers do their work without compensation, they do it for the love and care they hold for those less fortunate. These types of people would be more likely to work harder and exert greater determination to overcome obstacles and achieve their mission in reducing malnutrition rates. If the acute malnutrition crisis is primarily handled through organizations like UNICEF, Save The Children, and World Health Organization “WHO”, the people of Afghanistan wouldn’t have to worry about the stability of their government, nor would they have to depend or rely on the government at all to see change. With NGOs at the helm, citizens would find a more reliable source of support provided by people who genuinely care about the crisis at hand. The work accomplished by volunteers from these organizations would be more authentic and the people spear heading the projects/programs would be more motivated, determined, and caring.

Admittedly, there are limitations to relying solely on NGOs such as funding and possible lack of resources/people. Like all things in life everything always boils down to money and how much there is to be spent on this particular issue. Fortunately, when there’s a will, there’s a way. One possible solution would be having multiple charities working together to achieve the same goal; essentially collaborating together, combining resources, people, and funds to spearhead the crisis as a unified front. To put it more simply, partnerships could be extended and created to unify the entire humanitarian effort directed in Afghanistan. More change would likely occur more quickly if charities worked together instead of apart. For example, take charities like Doctors Without Borders, Save The Children, and International Rescue Committee, all these organizations have similar goals in mind and could bring together their specific areas of expertise to form one entity that would be the most qualified and prepared to tackle the crisis head on, better than any government ever could (Lopez). This past October, UNICEF and the World Food Program (WFP) partnered together to help congregate forces to address the food shortage currently present in Afghanistan. According to UNICEF, the two organizations quickly partnered and “added 100 more mobile health and nutrition teams to meet the needs of families in crisis. Already 168 teams are providing a lifeline for children and mothers in hard-to-reach areas” to help combat the issue (UNICEF). Having organizations collaborate together, not only can help address lack of funds but also adds to the number of people helping on the field. If multiple charities have the same goal in mind or even similar goals in mind, working with one another could not only benefit the children of Afghanistan, but also the charities’ own individual goals of helping save children and adults in need. With a larger emphasis on combining efforts, partnering, and or collaborating, more good work could be achieved and countless more lives could be saved.

Some may question whether the Taliban in all their corrupt glory would target, attack, or prohibit these organizations from completing the work they set out to do. But, as mentioned previously, the Taliban is currently frazzled and unstable. They have not yet set mandated policies or really addressed any of the various humanitarian crisis prevalent in Afghanistan. Since their restoration, many NGOs and non-profits fled the country for fear of their safety, but as of August of 2021, the Taliban actually “want foreign aid and are contacting NGOs to ask them to stay” (McLaren). Organizations like Doctors Without Borders, World Food Program, and UNICEF are some of the organizations that have stayed behind to help where they can. Historically, NGO’s have been able to work and aid in areas that were under Taliban rule, typically the more rural areas of Afghanistan which have been ruled over by the Taliban for the past decade (Mclaren). No formal process or policies have been released about restricting or minimizing humanitarian efforts thus far. But from what articles are published regarding this topic, the Taliban has no incentive to get in the way of NGOs or non-profits.

What this discussion reveals is that while Afghanistan serves as an example of the harm globalization can do to a lesser developed country, NGOs and non-profits exemplify the good that can come about when the world is so interconnected. Who’s to say that without the intervention of the United States into Afghanistan, that the country would have developed a strong and stable government that would have the tools, experience, and moral to find their own solutions to their own humanitarian crisis or that such problems would even exist; the world will never know. It’s easy to say that globalization has more negatives than positives when we see a situation like Afghanistan, but if you take a step back you can see that without globalization, there would be no groups like the United Nations. The United Nations does a whole lot of good for various countries around the world. The positive step forward for Afghanistan through NGOs reveals that globalization has the power to destroy, but also holds the hope of re-building and new beginnings. The coming together of multiple countries that the United Nations represents, shows that the world can work together and do good; it’s a beacon for hope and salvation.

Works Cited

“Acute Food Insecurity Looms for Millions in Afghanistan.” UNICEF USA, https://www.unicefusa.org/stories/acute-food-insecurity-looms-millions-afghanistan/39062. Accessed 26 Apr. 2022.

“Afghanistan Appeal.” UNICEF, https://www.unicef.org/appeals/afghanistan. Accessed 19 Apr. 2022.

“Afghanistan: 500,000 Jobs Lost since Taliban Takeover.” UN News, https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/01/1110052. Accessed 26 Apr. 2022.

“AFGHANISTAN: NUMBER OF MALNOURISHED CHILDREN AT SAVE THE CHILDREN CLINICS DOUBLED SINCE AUGUST.” Save the Children, https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/news/media-centre/press-releases/malnourished-children-at--save-the-children-afghanistan-clinics-. Accessed 25 Apr. 2022.

Faiola, Anthony. “How to Help Afghans without Aiding the Taliban.” Washington Post. www.washingtonpost.com, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/01/19/how-help-afghans-without-aiding-taliban/. Accessed 27 Apr. 2022.

Frozanfar, Muhammad Kamel, et al. “Acute Malnutrition Among Under-Five Children in Faryab, Afghanistan: Prevalence and Causes.” Nagoya Journal of Medical Science, vol. 78, no. 1, 2016, pp. 41–53. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-020-00569-x. Accessed 24 Apr. 2022.

Kermani, Secunder. “Afghanistan: Life under Taliban Rule One Month On.” BBC News, www.bbc.com, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58550640. Accessed 26 Apr. 2022.

Lopez, Olivia, “9 Best Charities for Afghanistan (Complete 2022 List).” Impactful Ninja, https://impactful.ninja/best-charities-for-afghanistan/. Accessed 20 Apr. 2022.

Mayhew, Maureen, et al. “Improving Nutrition in Afghanistan through a Community-Based Growth Monitoring and Promotion Programme: A Pre–Post Evaluation in Five Districts.” Global Public Health, vol. 9, no. sup1, July 2014, pp. S58–75, https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2014.917194.

McLaren, Sam. “Can NGOs Continue to Provide Aid in Afghanistan?” The Diplomat, https://thediplomat.com/2021/08/can-ngos-continue-to-provide-aid-in-afghanistan/. Accessed 26 Apr. 2022.

Saul, Ben. “‘Recognition’ and the Taliban’s International Legal Status.” ICCT, https://icct.nl/publication/recognition-talibans-international-legal-status/. Accessed 27 Apr. 2022.

Shoib, Sheikh, et al. “The Children of Afghanistan Need Urgent Mental Health Support.” The Lancet, vol. 399, no. 10329, 2022, pp. 1045–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00155-6. Accessed 27 Apr. 2022.

Zucchino, David. “The U.S. War in Afghanistan: How It Started, and How It Ended.” The New York Times, Oct. 2021. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/article/afghanistan-war-us.html.