Shocking poverty revealed in west Afghanistan
8 February 2002

A Red Cross Red Crescent assessment mission returning from western Afghanistan has reported scenes of great deprivation in villages and remote mountain valleys which have been cut off from the outside world for years.

The combined effects of 23 years of war and the last three years of drought have left many people entirely destitute. The team heard how girls as young as ten are being offered for marriage in exchange for bags of flour in a desperate struggle for survival in parts of Herat and Farah provinces in western Afghanistan. "We saw children digging in the fields for roots to eat and use as firewood. Leaves from the trees were also being eaten," says John Watt, operations manager at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Scenes of shocking poverty greeted the team when they reached the remote mountain valley of Rood Gaz which provides a snapshot of the appalling legacy of war and drought in western Afghanistan. The assessment team surveyed 12 villages in this remote valley, counting a population of 10,305 people. Among them were 510 orphans, 261 widows and 699 elderly largely dependent on their impoverished neighbours to stay alive and remittances from refugees in Iran.

In many of the villages there was no agricultural activity because of the drought, no seeds were available for planting, and much of the livestock had either died or been sold off. Girls were offered as brides for as little as 100 kgs of wheat flour. Wendy Darby, a director at the International Federation says that agencies involved in food distributions should take into account the needs in remote locations outside the major towns, like the Rood Gaz valley where people have no access to urban centres.

The International Federation continues to channel non-food support to five provinces in western Afghanistan. Following the report of the assessment team, further interventions are planned particularly in bringing mobile health services to remote rural areas and supporting a revival of agriculture through food-for-work schemes tackling irrigation projects, and the distribution of tools and seeds.

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In Geneva :
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The Geneva-based International Federation promotes the humanitarian activities of 181 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies among vulnerable people. By coordinating international disaster relief and encouraging development support, it seeks to prevent and alleviate human suffering. The Federation, National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross together, constitute the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.