By Catherine Johnson | Project Officer
Given the steady fall of temperature in November and December 2025 (particulary during the nights reaching -7 degrees c.) the families in vulnerable conditions started reaching out. The local news reported several deaths over the very cold nights among the poor households.
In January 2026, Action for Development supplied 300 families (approximately 2100 people) in Kabul and Parwan Province with 40 kilo sacks of coal to help them to deal with the harsh winter season experienced in Afghanistan. 60 percent of Afghanistan's families live below the poverty line, unable to meet basic needs such as food, heating and healthcare. As winter temperatures drop, these vulnerabilities intensify sharply.
The recipient families were the families of children enrolled in Action for Development’s three schools for street working children. These very vulnerable children are often the only members of their families who are able to earn any income, albeit very small. These families find it very difficult to be able to afford to heat their homes during the extreme cold of the winter months.
These households are among the most marginalized, facing extreme poverty, unemployment, food insecurity, and heightened risks during winter. These households depend on irregular daily labor or street-based income, which declines sharply during winter, while household expenditures for heating and food increase. Without winter support, families are forced to make impossible choices between food and fuel. Children face increased pressure to engage in street work and their households face heightened risks of hunger and preventable winter-related illness. Many of these children have been reportedly detained and jailed by the current authorities because of working on the streets, however, there is either death or jail and they had to make their choice.
The supply of coal helped families such as Ramzia’s. Ramzia is 13 years old. She is an orphan and works on the streets of Kabul every day to support her family. On a good day she earns between 50 and 100 Afghanis, barely enough to buy a few pieces of bread. In this way she tries to support her sick mother and three younger siblings. On cold winter days, Ramzia sits quietly at the entrance of a restaurant, offering chewing gum to people as they leave. She is too ashamed to beg, so she tries to sell what little she has. When the temperatures drop and people stay indoors, even this fragile income disappears.
The support that Action Development has been able to provide to families such as Ramzia’s is a lifeline, providing life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable families and a means to survive the winter with dignity.
By Adiya Assangazy | Communication Officer
By M. Khaksar | Logistics assistant
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