UN appeals for $50m to assist some 3.8 million Afghan children

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Sunday launched a 50-million-dollar aid appeal to assist a total of 6.3 million people, including some 3.8 million children in Afghanistan.

UNICEF said in a statement the funds will provide ‘lifesaving support to more than 570,000 children with basic health and nutrition packages, water, sanitation and hygiene,’ among other things.

Children continue to bear the brunt of conflict and adverse climatic conditions, said Adele Khodr, the UNICEF representative for Afghanistan.

She said some three out of 10 children are experiencing psychosocial distress, and 600,000 others under the age of five are suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

The continuous conflict and severe drought in parts of Afghanistan have affected hundreds of thousands of people.