UN 'determined' to address winter needs of Afghan people

Published 19 December 2012 12:25

People in 20 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces live in high-risk areas where emergency food, fuel and medical supplies will be needed to endure the challenges that come with the winter. Chief among those challenges are malnutrition and the physical effects of the harsh winter, which affect more than two million people in the Central Asian nation. The United Nations has appealed for help, but so far they have only managed to raise less than half of the $448m they asked of donor nations. Speaking to Al Jazeera from the Afghan capital, Mark Bowden, UN humanitarian co-ordinator, said this winter will be a "reminder ... of the level of humanitarian needs that exist". Bowden hopes this reminder will be an appeal to international donors who feel "fatigue" at providing aid to Afghanistan. Citing that last year more than 30 people, mostly children, froze in Kabul's IDP camps, Bowden said the UN is "determined to be better organised and better prepared" for this year's cold months.