Two women await porters to help them bring their food rations to their transport at a WFP distribution site on the outskirt of Herat. The rations consist of wheat flour, peas, oil and salt for each family. Photo by Photo: WFP/Marco Di Lauro
Since the fall of Kabul on August 15, Afghanistan’s economy has been in freefall. The country has been cut off from global financial institutions, its banking system has ground to a standstill and the United States has frozen more than $9 billion in Afghan assets. Citizens around the country are unable to access their bank accounts, with strict limits imposed by the central bank on the withdrawal of U.S. dollars and local currency – the latter of which has plummeted in value. Meanwhile, the flow of money into the country from international donors has slowed to a trickle.“The economic liquidity crisis is having a huge impact on people,” said Thakral. “People don’t have access to bank accounts, their assets have been frozen, so nobody can access their money … Since August, when I speak to people and meet families at food distribution sites or our clinics, where we look at doing prevention and treatment for malnutrition, a lot of people say: ‘Our biggest fear is poverty – we’re worried about poverty, we’re worried about being hungry.’”“I think the top-of-mind, biggest worry for people is going to sleep at night thinking: ‘I don’t know what tomorrow faces.’”“I think the top-of-mind, biggest worry for people is going to sleep at night thinking: ‘I don’t know what tomorrow faces.’”
The alternative, however, poses a greater moral cost. To not act would mean abandoning more than 20 million Afghans to poverty, hunger and mortal uncertainty – as the British Red Cross warns that the people of Afghanistan are looking down the barrel of one of the harshest winters in living memory.“Financial measures against the new government are making financial transactions extremely difficult, the local currency is losing value, and the price of food, fuel and other common goods is climbing,” said Ribeiro. “Without healthcare or humanitarian assistance, and with a rapidly deteriorating economic situation, we are very worried about a dreadful situation getting worse, particularly as we enter the Afghan winter.”Thakral was in Badakhshan, in the country’s northeast, the day before speaking to VICE World News. She recalled seeing groups of people gathering bush from the sides of mountains to use as kindling over the winter months, preparing for what’s to come. Many people can’t afford to keep themselves warm with gas or electricity – and the Taliban’s failure to pay the country’s power bills means an ongoing risk of blackouts and shortages across the country.For some people, dried out scrub from the side of a mountain represents the best chance of survival.“That bush, like kindle, will help keep fires alight – but it’s not enough. And these things, once lit, don’t last very long,” said Thakral. “That’s also an issue: to think about these families who are probably facing a really tough time over these next couple of months.”“Immediately, we need to make sure we’ve got money,” she added. “We need resources, we need to be able to feed people, and we need it really urgently.”Natashya Gutierrez contributed reporting. Follow Gavin Butler on Twitter.“When you’re standing in the pediatric ward in Kandahar’s largest hospital, looking into the empty eyes of hungry children and the anguished faces of desperate parents, the situation is absolutely infuriating.”
