The project of the Italian NGOs Otb Foundation and Nove CH in Kapisa
In Afghanistan, according to the IPC report, the integrated classification system of the stages of food security, 3.2 million children under 5 years of age are severely malnourished. Two out of three – more than 13 million – are in desperate need of humanitarian aid and, according to a recent publication by Save the Children, around 7.8 million children will not have enough to eat during 2024.
The need for safe places such as orphanages is increasingly important in this context where poverty and insecurity prevail, because orphanages play a crucial role in uplifting families who live in extreme poverty and cannot afford to provide for the basic needs of their children, guaranteeing reception, education and access to care.
An island of salvation to avoid succumbing to hunger, violence, early marriages, domestic abuse, child labor.
For this reason, already in 2022, Nove Caring Humans – one of the few Italian NGOs still operating in Afghanistan – and Otb Foundation have invested resources and funds to reactivate the public male orphanage in Kapisa, the smallest but densely populated Afghan province in the north-east of Kabul. Since then the structure has become a safe haven for over 50 children who now have the opportunity to grow up peacefully.
Now the project will be extended, opening the first public female orphanage in the country governed by the Taliban regime.
‘During our missions in the province of Kapisa we met desperate women who, kneeling in front of the boys’ orphanage supported by Nove and Otb Foundation, begged to welcome their daughters,’ says Susanna Fioretti, president of Nove Caring Humans. From this was born the decision to extend support to girls and adolescents ‘Hunger, cold, child labor and various forms of abuse are the order of the day for children and young people. OTB Foundation – says the vice-president of the NGO Arianna Alessi – continues to support this country in difficulty by trying to give hope to the requests for entry to all the families who arrive in our orphanage, families where women are the only ones who take care of the family’s livelihood. .
The project is also supported through the sale of a limited edition Jil Sander t-shirt available in the brand’s direct stores in Europe and online starting today.
50% of the sales price of each ‘Jil Sander for Otb Foundation’ t-shirt will be used to support the Kapisa girls’ orphanage. ‘For many girls in Kapisa the orphanage is the only possibility to study and eat every day, it is the only hope for not succumbing to violence and early marriages. With the help of the Otb Foundation – says Fioretti – we immediately accepted the proposal of the Ministry of Social Affairs to open a girls’ orphanage’.
Unicef statistics show that in 2023, 38.9% of girls in Afghanistan were subject to early marriage: girls forced to marry at a very young age, deprived of a childhood and education and the prospects of an independent future. ‘The 50 girls who reside in the new Kapisa facility – says Alessi – receive accommodation and food and have access to education, healthcare and emotional support. Global assistance that allows them to free themselves from the cycle of poverty and exploitation that often accompanies early marriage.’
Hunger and malnutrition have very serious repercussions on children’s health and can cause lasting effects on their physical and cognitive development, as well as having a strong psychological impact.
For this reason, a psychological assistance service is provided, a specialist who regularly evaluates the conditions and well-being of minors, offering group and individual therapies.
The orphanage also takes on the essential function of saving families, because it does not sever the relationship between children and their parents in a state of absolute poverty. But rather, when possible, it promotes visits and meetings.
