KLM AirCares supporting a better position for women and children in Afghanistan

In the last quarter of 2002 KLM AirCares is supporting the Red Cross Red Crescent Mother-and-Child Health project in Afghanistan. As a consequence of decades of war in Afghanistan, and the absence of basic education and healthcare for women, one in four Afghan children die before their fifth birthday. Most die from illnesses that are relatively easy to treat, such as diarrhea, respiratory infections and bronchitis. The cause is almost always simply that the mothers do not know how to care for their children, because they have never been taught. Many women also contract health problems for the same reasons during or after pregnancy. Every 30 minutes a woman in Afghanistan dies as a result of complications in pregnancy.

The Red Cross Red Crescent Society in Afghanistan is committed to tackling deprivation and neglect among Afghan women and to make them full members of society once again. This project will improve their own health and that of their children. Mother-and-Child Health stations are being set up in the organization's 48 clinics throughout Afghanistan. Around 26 clinics already have one of these stations where Afghan women can volunteer to train as traditional midwives to provide pre-and postnatal care and to assist in safe childbirth. Mobile training teams supplement these clinics by traveling around the country giving basic training on breastfeeding, nutrition, hygiene, infant and childcare, midwifery and family planning. These programs also enable women to make up for decades of neglect and exclusion from education.

With the support of KLM AirCares - and with the support of the Red Cross Red Crescent - Afghan women can improve their own situation and better care for their children. Donating to AirCares has become a lot simpler with the introduction of this project. On all KLM flights of 60 minutes or longer customers will be given the option of donating EUR 10, 20, 30 or 50 (or a combination of these amounts) to AirCares at the tax-free trolley by using a credit card. 

AirCares is the charity program of KLM and Northwest Airlines. AirCares supports a new charity project every quarter.