The newborns fighting for survival in Afghanistan

 

A year into Taliban rule, the number of newborn deaths and miscarriages in one province, Badakhshan, have nearly doubled, local doctors say.

Foreign funding which financed Afghanistan’s public healthcare was frozen in August last year. Our correspondent Yogita Limaye has spent time in maternity wards there, witnessing the unbearable suffering of women with no access to pain relief, forced to share beds, and an acute shortage of doctors.

Amongst all of this, some babies are beating the odds, and surviving, but tragically many are not.

Taliban schools U-turn 'a devastating day' for Afghan girls - Malala Yousafzai

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has told the BBC that the Taliban will continue to make excuses to prevent girls from learning beyond primary school. Since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, only girls’ primary schools - along with all boys’ schools - have remained open in most of Afghanistan. Girls’ secondary schools were due to open on Wednesday, but the Taliban has reversed its decision saying a ruling is still to be made on the uniforms that girls must wear. Speaking to BBC World News' Yalda Hakim, Ms Yousafzai said the Taliban is envisioning an Afghanistan where we do not have educated women.