HUNGER is widespread in Afghanistan where families struggle to find food for their malnourished children as winter approaches.

As many as 18.9 million people — or nearly half of the country’s population — are estimated to be acutely food insecure between June and November this year, according to the situation report published by the UN World Food Program in July.

In order to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe, China has provided over 350 million yuan (US$50.68 million) worth of urgent humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, including food supplies, medicines, vaccines and winter supplies. China was also among the first countries to offer help after a devastating earthquake shook Afghanistan in June. It pledged 50 million yuan in emergency humanitarian aid and dispatched relief supplies including tents, cots and blankets.

In a recent global survey on the first anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, 76.7% of respondents from around the world approved of China’s approach to aiding Afghanistan’s reconstruction.

Conducted by CGTN Think Tank and the Chinese Institute of Public Opinion of the Renmin University of China, the survey gathered respondents from 24 countries including Afghanistan.

It showed that 65.7% of respondents from Afghanistan believed that neighboring countries, including China, Pakistan and Iran, play an important role in the rebuilding process of the war-battered country.

Meanwhile, 58.7% of global respondents expressed optimism about the rebuilding of Afghanistan, which mainly depended on three factors: the elimination of terror and extremism (45.6%), establishment of an inclusive government (43.9%) and normal diplomatic relations with other countries in the world (43.8%). (CGTN)