by Peter D. Bell, President CARE USA Time is running out for millions of drought-stricken Afghans. If food is not sent soon, many of them will perish in a horrific humanitarian crisis.

Four months ago, I visited Afghanistan, a sobering and sometimes heartbreaking experience. Time and again, I met families who were barely surviving. I heard parents express shame at not being able to adequately feed their children.

In the village of Pam Kosh, a nine-hour drive southwest of Kabul, one man told us his entire village was living on wild plants growing on the nearby hills. They were eating only once a day. Many were sending family members to Kabul, Pakistan or Iran to eke out a living and send back money. In a neighboring village, conditions were worse: one family remained to look after the properties of the 50 who had fled. More than 2 million Afghans had already become refugees.

And that was late June. The situation is now even more critical. The United Nations says 7.5 million people are facing serious food shortages. Perhaps one-third of those people -- 2.5 million -- will be hard-pressed to survive the winter.

A small number of aid agencies -- including CARE -- are putting food on trucks and shipping it to needy families in different parts of the country, racing against the clock. But the needs are enormous, and the conditions for our work range from uncertain to dangerous. Already, too many areas are unreachable, and humanitarian organizations cannot reliably serve people in those areas until security improves.

We must give priority to people who will be inaccessible by road during the brutal winter months. The greatest humanitarian needs are in a wide belt across the northern half of the country, stretching from Bagdhis in the west to Badakshan in the far northeast, including Kabul and Hazarajat.

Humanitarian organizations, with the support of the United States and other donors, are planning large-scale movements of food by road, across as many of Afghanistan's six borders as possible. If security conditions make it difficult to move food across one border, we will quickly increase deliveries across other borders. The more pipelines, the better.

It is already clear that airlifts of food will be required to fill gaps and respond to changing conditions on the ground. But given the country's landing strips, planes can only carry limited quantities -- the same amount as large trucks -- and they are only a partial solution. If food cannot be delivered fast enough, then the international community must resort to more extraordinary measures.

One approach would have the United Nations negotiate with the relevant military authorities for safe passage of relief convoys. Another approach would be for all sides to suspend military activities for a "humanitarian pause" until food stocks and other life-saving resources have reached people in need. The bottom line is that all parties have an obligation to ensure that more innocent lives are not lost -- the international community and Afghan militias must help create "humanitarian space" and allow aid agencies to relieve suffering and save lives.

The ability of humanitarian organizations to deliver aid in conflict situations depends on the good will and protection of all sides. Thus, even while seeking political and military support for access to civilians in need, humanitarian organizations must maintain strict impartiality and independence. This is a not only a question of moral principle, it is also a matter of pragmatic necessity.

The mission of humanitarian action, first and always, must be to serve civilians in need, wherever they can be reached. If we favor one side or another, we will put humanitarian workers, and ultimately the people we serve, at risk.

Time is running out. Without full and secure access, life saving aid will not get to large numbers of people.

During my visit in June, hundreds of thousands of drought-stricken Afghans were in dire straits. Now, with Afghanistan's harsh winter just weeks away, as many as 2.5 million are on the brink of catastrophe. We must act now.