Keeping Children Warm, Safe, and Ready to Learn in Balochistan
UNICEF provides winter kits to protect children from severe weather in Pakistan
Quetta, Balochistan: Winter is a particularly tough time for the small community of 500 people in Kili Ahmed Khan, a settlement on the outskirts of Quetta, Balochistan, where temperatures frequently plummet below zero.
“It has been continuously snowing and raining in our area for many days,” says Awaiza.
“Going to school early in the morning is very difficult. While at home, we stay indoors and cannot even come out to play.”
In Pakistan, the winter season usually lasts from November to March. A severe cold wave swept across various parts of Balochistan this winter – in late 2024 and early 2025. Temperatures dropped to minus 8°C.
The extremely cold and dry weather posed a major challenge to communities, which are neither equipped with safe and sufficient heating systems nor have enough warm clothing.
A Warm Surprise in Store
Today is a festive day for the community, children are excited as they’ve been told that UNICEF is delivering special supplies for them. Among them are eight-year-old Awaiza and her twin brother, Afnan.
Earlier this morning, the twins walked to school with snow under their feet and a strong icy wind blowing in their faces, without warm clothes or winter shoes.
As a minivan pulls into the village and UNICEF-branded cartons are offloaded, excitement builds among children and adults alike.
For communities living in areas that experience harsh weather and snowfall, UNICEF procures and distributes thousands of winter kits and blankets for children and families.
Winter kits contain woollen caps, jackets, gloves, socks, shoes, and more — items most needed by children during winter.
Staying Warm, Staying in School
“There are more than 500 people living in this community, and most of them are children,” says Fiyaz Ahmed, one of the residents.
“Winter brings many difficulties for us, especially for children. They do not have warm clothing and often get exposed to the cold when going to school in the morning. They fall sick repeatedly, which impacts their education and learning,” Fiyaz adds.
As cartons are opened, children line up to receive their supplies — the winter kits. A member of the UNICEF staff ensures that each child receives an age-appropriate kit, helping them try on various items.
Brand-new jackets, socks, shoes, warm hats, and much more — for the children, they are jubilant and eager to show every item to their mothers, who, according to local cultural norms, remain indoors while visitors are in the village.
“We are a poor community. Mostly, men are involved in apple farming or work on daily wages. We don’t have heating systems or warm clothing to protect ourselves against the cold when temperatures drop. Even water freezes, and survival becomes difficult,” says Wazir Mohammad (65), a community elder and veteran humanitarian worker.
“The children can now go to school and play in the open without the fear of falling sick. For us, these items are a blessing, and we are grateful to UNICEF for this timely support,” he adds.
This year, UNICEF Pakistan procured and distributed over 10,000 winter kits and around 28,000 blankets to reach vulnerable children and families in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The kits were procured using UNICEF's Core Resources – flexible, unrestricted funds contributed by governments, intergovernmental organizations, and the private sector. In a time of shrinking global aid, core resources are more essential than ever, allowing UNICEF to respond rapidly to the most urgent needs of children, whenever emergencies strike.
