Feature: Afghan women in Kabul benefit from aid provided by China

KABUL, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- Worrying over how to earn her living, an unwaged midwife in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan breathed a sigh of relief after receiving a aid package provided by China in a cold day.

"The living in Kabul is going forward but with difficulties and challenges, we do not know how the future will unfold. My husband, a construction engineer, lost his job as the building construction business has dimmed in recent months. I also lost my job. We have to pay 5,000 afghani (about 48.5 U.S. dollars) for house rent, besides paying a lot for other daily necessities," the midwife, who declined to be named, told Xinhua on Wednesday.

With the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in mid-August, the war ended and peace returned. However, the country has been experiencing economic woes with tens of thousands of people losing their jobs and livelihood.

"Due to lack of cash, we cannot buy fire wood this year, now we are facing a harsh winter, I have no choice but to put on more cloths on the kids to keep them warm," the mother of four children said.

"We are thankful to China for sending assistance. We request for more assistance, we want the flow of the assistance to be continued," she said.

About 54.5 percent of Afghans were living under the poverty line in 2019, according to official statistics. But the number soared to 72 percent in 2020.

The dire economic situation in the country has been worsening following the freeze of over 9 billion U.S. dollars of the country's central bank's assets by the United States.

On Wednesday, the Ministry for Refugees and Repatriation of the Afghan caretaker government distributed a batch of aid provided by China to more than 1,000 women at a depot of the ministry in a western neighborhood of Kabul.

"The package included two jackets, two to three blankets, and a 50 kg sack of rice. The packages are being distributed to 1,000 eligible women, who are registered in 22 districts of Kabul by our teams," acting Minister for Refugees and Repatriation Mawlawi Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani told reporters at the site of the distribution.

The minister said his ministry has received several batches of humanitarian supplies from China recently. Last Friday, Afghanistan's caretaker government began to distribute the humanitarian supplies to the country's 34 provinces.

"Thanks to all the countries, aid agencies and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) that are sending humanitarian assistance from any possible way to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. We are thankful to all of them," the minister said.

"We urge the international community not to combine political issues with humanitarian aid. The ordinary people should not fall the victim of politics. The world must not politicize humanitarian response," he said.

"We assure all the aid agencies and donors that the assistance will reach the eligible and the needy people, as we are managing well and we are doing our best to register the eligible people to deliver them the assistance," the minister said.

Meanwhile, another lady Asma, a mother of six children, told Xinhua that "we appreciate China for sending us assistance, we hope we receive more assistance as we need cooking oil and fire wood as well."

"With the donation, I will be able to put some food on the table for my kids for a couple of weeks," she said.

On Wednesday, a group of Afghan women staged a protest in central Kabul, demanding the United States unfreeze Afghanistan' assets. "We are also human like you. LET US LIVE!" a banner carried by the protesters said.