Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

FROM THE FIELD

Save the Children to reach more impoverished Afghan children with support from Khalifa Foundation
06 Jul 2009 23:00:00 GMT
 Source: International Save the Children Alliance
SaveChAlli logo

Background

•  Afghan turmoil

•  Food and hunger

•  Children

MORE >>
WESTPORT, Conn. (7 July, 2009) Save the Children today announced it will receive a two-year grant from the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nehayan Foundation to improve the health, nutrition, and education of Afghan children living in extreme poverty.

In Afghanistan, almost one in five children dies before age 5, almost half the children are malnourished and only 10 percent of rural women are literate.  To address these grim indicators and the obstacles to sustainable development they represent, the Khalifa Foundation will support Save the Children in expanding programming in water and sanitation, childhood nutrition, and education. 

“Afghan children face some of the most difficult circumstances on earth, but hygiene, nutrition, and education can save lives and open doors,” said Mohamed Haji Al Khoori, Executive Director of the Khalifa Foundation.  “When children have the opportunity to grow up strong, healthy, and educated, they can transform their society.  The children of Afghanistan deserve this opportunity now.”

Access to clean water and hygienic practices are critical to preventing diseases that can be fatal for children.  The Khalifa Foundation grant will fund construction of wells, hand-washing stations, and latrines, and ongoing education to support them.

Recent drought and rising food prices have exacerbated high rates of malnutrition in Afghanistan.  Khalifa Foundation support will allow Save the Children to greatly expand proven community-based initiatives to treat and prevent child malnutrition in Afghanistan. 

Save the Children, as part of the Rewrite the Future campaign, has already improved the quality of education for more than 2.5 million Afghan children since 2005. Yet nearly 2 million children are still out of school in Afghanistan and 66% of those children are girls. The Khalifa Foundation will fund Save the Children programmes to continue to improve education in Afghanistan and to increase the number of women teachers, so that more girls can attend school. 

“The Khalifa Foundation is making a great investment in the children and the future of Afghanistan,” said Charles MacCormack, President and CEO of Save the Children.  “By reaching more children with proven interventions and strategic programming, we will save lives, reduce suffering, and support the Afghan people in their quest for lasting development.”

More information 

HTML fileLearn more about Save the Children’s Afghanistan programmes

For more information please contact Tanya Weinberg, Office: +1 202 640 6647, Cell:  +1 202 6476610


Save the Children is the leading independent organisation that creates lasting change for children around the world. The International Save the Children Alliance is a global network of 27 independent Save the Children organisations working to ensure the well-being and protection of children in more than 120 countries. 

The Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation was established in Abu Dhabi in 2007 by the president of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Abu Dhabi, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.  The foundation is an independent entity dedicated to delivering aid and services to the poor and students in all parts of the world.  Areas of focus include support for education, health and social service programmes as well as the construction of schools, hospitals, and orphanages.


[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

Email this article       Send comments

Topics

•  Children

•  Food and hunger

•  Women

MORE >>

Emergencies

•  Afghan turmoil

MORE >>

Members

•  International Save the Children Alliance

MORE >>

NGO latest

•  G8 Summit: Merlin welcomes fresh ideas for funding health
Merlin - UK

•  CAREos response to the DFID white paper
CARE International - UK

•  Hidden Crisis in Nairobi's Slums
Concern Worldwide U.S.

•  Day of the African Child and what happened around the globe
Save the Children - International Alliance

•  Save the Children to reach more impoverished Afghan children with support from Khalifa Foundation
Save the Children - International Alliance

MORE >>

Latest news

•  NATO mission statement should reassure allies-chief

•  US wants G8 to pledge $15 bln on food aid - draft

•  PAKISTAN: IDP health in the spotlight

•  SOMALIA: Harvest concerns in parts of Somaliland

•  AFGHANISTAN: After the floods, malaria?

MORE >>

[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

Background information

Briefings
Afghan turmoil - [Who works where]

Topics
Children Food and hunger Women
Facts & figures
Afghanistan United Arab Emirates
Statistics graphs
Landmine casualties (2007)
Chart for Landmine casualties
View more stats >>

Related articles

Breaking stories
 NATO mission statement should reassure allies-chief (1 minute ago)

US wants G8 to pledge $15 bln on food aid - draft (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
 Millions hungry as global warming shifts seasons - Oxfam (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
 G8 Summit: Merlin welcomes fresh ideas for funding health (1 minute ago)

Blogs
 Sri Lanka's 'forgotten' city poor need help too (1 minute ago)

Maps
 AFGHANISTAN Takhar Area Multi Temporal Comparison of River State (1 minute ago)


Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-07-07T104708Z_01_SZH06_RTRIDSP_2_AFGHANISTAN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/SZH06.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-07-07T095308Z_01_DBG225_RTRIDSP_2_CHINA-XINJIANG_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/DBG225.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-07-07T093151Z_01_SZH04_RTRIDSP_2_AFGHANISTAN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/SZH04.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-07-07T093018Z_01_SZH03_RTRIDSP_2_AFGHANISTAN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/SZH03.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-07-07T091647Z_01_SZH02_RTRIDSP_2_AFGHANISTAN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/SZH02.htm

An Afghan boy waves at U.S. soldiers of 2nd Platoon from the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, patrolling in the village of Sangarkhel in mountains of Wardak Province, Afghanistan, July 7, ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Tue Jul 7 16:03:52 2009