Afghanistan: Child Centers Have No Funding for Food

The Aschiana Foundation is reporting that two of its child centers in Afghanistan are out of funding for food. Aschiana provides a refuge for street children in Kabul, who work and beg to support their struggling families. These children are caught in a poverty trap very early in life.

At the Aschiana center, the children receive a meal and also tutoring. But funding is a major crisis for Aschiana as it tries to maintain steady food supplies for the children. The two child centers that are currently out of funding help 300 children.

Throughout all of Afghanistan there are around 600,000 street children. There should be a full ration program for all of them, which would include food at tutoring or class sessions as well as take home-rations. This would fight staggering child malnutrition and at the same time encourage attendance at tutoring and eventually school. The take-home rations would serve as a vital safety net for the families of street children.

Where possible, local food producers could supply the ration programs for the street children.The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) encourages local purchase of food for its aid programs which includes school feeding. WFP also began partnering with Aschiana last year with take-home rations. This program is in need of expansion.

There are some ways you can get involved. First, contact the Aschiana Foundation about supporting their child centers which are facing the food shortage.

You can also sign a petition calling for a full ration program for the street children. To learn more about hunger in Afghanistan, visit the World Food Programme web site .

Article first published as Afghanistan: Child Centers Have No Funding for Food on Blogcritics.