Hundreds of millions of pounds in British aid has been pumped into Afghanistan to help children like little Dawoud (pictured at right). And yet he is dying. Head swollen, stomach distended and muscles wasting away, he is in the advanced stages of malnutrition - and so are thousands more like him.
Enraged charity workers told how the British aid that could - and should - be saving them is failing to get through. And they point the finger of blame squarely at Britain's International Development Secretary, Hilary Benn.
Alarmingly, it is not just children like Dawoud who are paying the price for Britain's aid failures. Aid workers say the only escape for the desperate and starving is to join the Taliban insurgents, who promise food, shelter and a 'joining bonus' of $200 (£101) - a king's ransom in Afghanistan.
Norine MacDonald, president of the Paris-based Senlis Council, one of the leading agencies in the region, said: "Hilary Benn has spent nearly £400million in Afghanistan. ..Where has that money gone? It is certainly not reaching the people who need it most.
The organisation claims Mr Benn's department has staff on the ground in Afghanistan but they do not leave the relative safety of their offices in the capital, Kabul. Instead, the British aid is given to the Afghan government to distribute - even though the administration is riddled with corruption.
The World Food Programme says 2.5million Afghans are in danger of starvation and five million more are not getting enough to eat. The UN body's assessment is stark. It says 61 per cent of children under five are suffering from malnutrition and nearly seven per cent are described as 'wasted'. The numbers are growing.
[Excerpt of an article by Jason Lewis, The Daily Mail]
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