TİKA Supports an Orphanage in Afghanistan

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) provided food, cleaning supplies, and winter fuel to Alawuddin Girls’ Orphanage in Kabul, Afghanistan.

The ceremony held for the delivery of humanitarian aid for 100 orphans living in Turkish-Afghan Friendship Alawuddin Orphanage and 170 orphans living Tahya-e-Maskan Orphanage was attended by Emre Manav, Undersecretary of the Turkish Embassy in Kabul; Faizan Ahmad Kakar, Director-General of Orphanages of Afghanistan; Zühtü Çal, TİKA’s Coordinator in Kabul; and press members.

In his speech at the ceremony, held at the orphanage, Zühtü Çal, TİKA’s Coordinator in Kabul, described the humanitarian aid they provided to orphanages in Afghanistan. Çal said, “We identified the needs of Alawuddin Orphanage and Tahya-e-Maskan Orphanage upon the request of the General Directorate of Orphanages of Afghanistan. We decided to donate three months’ supply of food and cleaning supplies to both orphanages. Today, we delivered humanitarian aid to Alawuddin Girls’ Orphanage.” Noting that they would deliver food and cleaning supplies to Tahya-e-Maskan Orphanage the next day, Çal added, “TİKA will continue to provide humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.”

Emre Manav, Undersecretary of the Turkish Embassy in Kabul, stated that the Turkish Government would stand in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan and continue to help them under any circumstance, just as how it had carried out assistance activities in the country with all its institutions in the past. Coordinator Zühtü Çal stressed that Afghanistan had a special place in their projects and activities and that the Agency aimed to provide humanitarian aid especially to orphans and displaced persons in all parts of the country during these difficult times.

Faizan Ahmad Kakar, Director-General of Orphanages of Afghanistan, noted that Turkey and especially TİKA were always there for orphanages and that the support they provided during these difficult times was of a special value to the people of Afghanistan, especially to orphans. He added that the food, cleaning supplies, and winter fuel provided by TİKA were vital for orphans during the ongoing crisis, that a director notified them last week that they only had five days’ supply of food, and that Turkey, which is a friendly and sister country, helped them just in time.

“We would like to thank TİKA”

Azize Azizi, Deputy Director for Dormitories at Alawuddin Girls’ Orphanage, delivered a speech and thanked TİKA. Azizi stated that the orphanage survived with the help of various charitable organizations, and that TİKA met a significant part of their needs. She noted that 20 teachers working for the orphanage have not been paid for a while due to the economic crisis in the country.

Alawuddin Girls’ Orphanage and Tahya-e-Maskan Orphanage are home to 220 and 180 children, respectively. Nearly 40 years of conflict in Afghanistan has left many women widowed and many children orphaned. According to official authorities, there are approximately 500,000 widows in the country. The estimated number of orphans is around 1.5 million. There are 68 public and private orphanages across the country; however, 26 of them have actually been shut down due to the great economic crisis that the country is going through. It is noted that 9,319 children had stayed at orphanages before the Taliban but that 3,566 of them were sent to their relatives’ homes due to the economic crisis.