There are 600,000 street children in Afghanistan, forced to work and beg to support their families. We can help these children by providing them take-home rations as part of tutoring they receive at Aschiana Foundation centers, the Two Sparrows Foundation and other charities.
The Aschiana Foundation says these Afghan children "are caught in a quagmire of illiteracy and poverty, driving them to desperation. They are forced to find work,often on city streets. Some are orphans, some are refugees and some come from dysfunctional families. All have had their lives disrupted by years of war."
By providing them rations we can help keep the children off the streets and give them a chance for an education and a future. The rations would be provided by the UN World Food Programme.
This summer Aschiana and WFP
teamed up to start a take-home ration initiative for 2,000 children. This needs to be fully funded and expanded to reach many more street children. There must also be full rations provided at the tutoring centers run by Aschiana and other charities.
We the undersigned ask you to support a take-home food ration program for the 600,000 street children in Afghanistan. The Aschiana Foundation says these children "are caught in a quagmire of illiteracy and poverty, driving them to desperation. They are forced to find work, often on city streets. Some are orphans, some are refugees and some come from dysfunctional families. All have had their lives disrupted by years of war."
We can help these children by giving them take-home rations as part of tutoring they receive at Aschiana Foundation centers, the Two Sparrows Foundation or other charities.
The rations would be provided by the UN World Food Programme (WFP). This past summer Aschiana and WFP teamed up to start a take-home ration initiative for 2,000 children. This program needs to be fully funded and expanded to reach many more street children. There must also be full rations provided at the tutoring centers run by Aschiana and other charities.
Food can help keep the children off the streets, prevent damaging malnutrition, increase their educational opportunities and provide a safety net for an impoverished family.
Feeding the children of Afghanistan is the most important step we can take toward building a future for that country. We ask that the United States and its international partners implement a full ration program for the street children in Afghanistan.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.
