MSF Luxembourg has continued to help the population since the return of the Taliban. Malnutrition among children is now a source of great concern.

Six months after the return of the Taliban to power, she is delighted to know “the new light on Afghanistan”. We need it”. At the end of the line, the voice of Anna Cilliers, medical coordinator in the field for MSF Luxembourg, expresses a certain relaxation. Because since the withdrawal of American troops and the abandonment of the Afghan population by the international community, humanitarian workers also felt very alone and helpless. Anna Cilliers is one of those who have not given up or let go of the hundreds of patients, sometimes thousands, treated at the various sites managed by Doctors Without Borders. The manager crisscrosses the towns of the five provinces where the Luxembourg NGO is present: Herat, Khost, Kunduz, Kandahar and Lashkar Gah. Everywhere, she sees repeating “the same stories for women and children”. Stories that tell of painful births, obstetric emergencies, among other daily difficulties.

And a scourge that is also growing every day: famine. Some 22 million people – half the population – are in urgent need of aid, the United Nations estimates. They launched an appeal for donations last week, in order to raise five billion dollars – a record amount – and try to prevent Afghanistan from sinking into total disaster. The amount raised will be used to expand food delivery and support for agriculture, finance health services, emergency shelters, access to water and sanitation, etc. Good news that Anna Cilliers hopes to see materialize as soon as possible. “All outside help is welcome, funds are starting to arrive and we are very happy with it. But people are worried about their future,” she reports from her encounters.

Time is running out, above all. Today, MSF teams face overcrowding in pediatric clinics and units due to the ongoing treatment of children under five suffering from malnutrition. They have tripled in one year. Infant mortality worries Anna Cilliers who also sees more and more newborns “premature, too thin, too small”. At the Khost maternity hospital, which has around 100 beds, all are permanently occupied. Identical observation at the Herat hospital, where MSF runs a therapeutic nutritional centre. A nutrition program has started in Kandahar, another is planned in Kabul. Hunger obviously justifies the means and efforts to be gained.

Without forgetting that the Afghan hospital system was already in great precariousness before the return of the Taliban. The salaries of the staff had not been paid for several months and everyone was even struggling to fill up with fuel. Political instability, if imposed, does not hinder the work of humanitarians who operate in relative security. “Dialogue with the Taliban is possible and open. We are neutral and focus on patients. Since MSF Luxembourg has been present in Afghanistan for years, we can intervene correctly where necessary”, confirms Anna Cilliers. A lesser evil. The Taliban seem rightly demanding and have also prompted the call of the UN. “We need food and other types of humanitarian aid for the Afghan people, more than 90% of the people live below the poverty line”, according to one of their senior officials, aware that the economic crisis, aggravated by drought strangles a country suffocated on all sides.

While waiting for the promised breath of air, Anna Cilliers and her teams do not have time to breathe. They have to work on all fronts in a country plagued by 20 years of conflict. As in Kunduz, the scene of heavy fighting last summer, where the trauma unit receives wounded by gunshots or by bomb attacks. Their ambulances must also regularly go to remote villages, recover residents in bad shape without money or the possibility of moving. But all the stories, if they are alike, do not necessarily have a tragic end. “We manage to save lives every day,” says Anna Cilliers. A bit of humanity that resists in the chaos.