MAZAR-E-SHARIF, Afghanistan – Childhood has never been easy in Afghanistan.

The conflict, drought and poverty are having profound effects on a generation, leaving many families struggling to feed their children.

About 15 million Afghan children are malnourished, according to Save the Children, an international child welfare agency that set out to help rural Afghan communities.

“What we really need now is the political movement behind this to act to tackle hunger,” said Sarah Jacobs, a spokesman for Save the Children.

ITN’s Emma Murphy visited Afghanistan’s second-largest city to learn about a new program by the agency that’s making a difference, one mother at a time.

View the video to see Afghan women and relief agencies working together

More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• Officials: US drones monitoring clashes in Syria
• ‘Absolutely brilliant’: NYT’s Shadid remembered
• Robbers loot Greece’s Ancient Olympia museum

GOP Presidential candidate Rick Santorum spoke with David Gregory on Meet the Press this Sunday. Many news outlets noted Santorum’s criticism of the White House’s revision of its health care policy regarding contraception. Talking Points Memo wrote, “Rick Santorum told David Gregory on Meet the Press that the modified rule on contraception coverage for employees of religiously-affiliated organizations is not a compromise and still forces the hand of religious organizations.” The Los Angeles Times highlighted another part of the interview: “NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ host David Gregory read a passage from Santorum’s 2005 book, ‘It Takes a Family,” that spoke about “radical feminists” undermining the “traditional family” and “convincing women that professional accomplishments are the key to happiness.” Santorum responded that his wife Karen co-wrote that section of the book and was speaking about how she felt after leaving the workforce to stay home with the couple’s seven children.

White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew also joined David this Sunday to talk about the administration’s new budget plan. The New York Times wrote of the appearance: “On Sunday, the job of making the argument for job-creation measures now and budget austerity later fell to Jacob J. Lew, Mr. Obama’s chief of staff and until recently his budget director.” And Reuters highlighted Lew’s discussion of fiscal responsibility: “’I think there is pretty broad agreement that the time for austerity is not today,’ White House chief of staff Jack Lew told NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ on Sunday.”