5m Afghans including women, children addicted to drugs: Hanafi

KABUL (Pajhwok): Deputy prime minister Abdul Salam Hanafi on Thursday said that around five million Afghans, including a million women and children, were addicted to drugs in the country.

A statement from the Presidential Palace posted on its Twitter page said that Deputy Prime Minister MulaviAbdul Salam Hanafi met with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) deputy country director, Middellan Seidler, on Wednesday.

Hanafi said during the meeting that five million Afghans were addicted to drugs, one million of whom were women and children.

“If the international community helps the country’s farmers with alternative livelihoods, they will stop cultivating narcotics,” he said.

“We hope you would closely monitor the situation of Afghan women who have been affected by war so that we can work together to address their problems,” Hanafi said.

He said that the Islamic Emirate supported the rights of women and the decree of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Emirate clearly states the value and protection of women’s rights.

The policy of the current government is to preserve the dignity and honor of every Afghan who should live in peace in their country, he said.

On the other hand, deputy IRC country director in the meeting referring to the organization’s humanitarian services, said that the organization supported Afghan women and children.

“A day ago, we checked closely the situation of the hospitals in Kabul and Logar provinces, which need more care, and we will continue our humanitarian activities in Afghanistan,” she concluded.

mds/ma

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