Cash assistance gives parents dignity and flexibility
UNICEF’s cash assistance is providing a lifeline for families facing multiple threats to their health and well-being
DAIKUNDI, AFGHANISTAN - Malnutrition in pregnant and breastfeeding women has doubled in the last year. For their babies, this means they are born underweight or become malnourished in their first 6 months of life.
UNICEF has been providing targeted cash transfers to pregnant women in multiple provinces of Afghanistan. This programme supports households with pregnant and lactating women to meet their basic needs. It gives them freedom to buy the things they need the most.
Anar Gul, in Daikundi Province, is seven months pregnant and recently received cash assistance from UNICEF.
"It is better to receive this assistance as cash because if we’re given clothes, we may already have clothes to wear, but we might not have food to eat. Sometimes, we might be given food, but we have no shoes to walk in," said Anar Gul.
For Anar Gul, UNICEF-supported cash assistance means healthy food for her children, checkups at the local clinic, and new school supplies for her daughter.
“My daughter once came home from school crying because her shoes were torn, and other girls were laughing at her. So, this money from UNICEF has helped us a lot. We were able to buy books, pens, and shoes for her," she said.
Click below 👇 to see how UNICEF cash assistance helped Anar Gul
With thanks from United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), UNICEF completed the third round of cash distribution in Daikundi Province, reaching 6,231 families with pregnant and lactating women across three districts, supporting them to access antenatal care, institutional delivery, and post-natal care.
