Only 17% of Afghanistan’s 2026 Humanitarian Aid Budget Funded, UN Warns
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has announced that by mid-2026, Afghanistan’s humanitarian needs and response plan has been funded only 17 percent, with just $292 million secured out of the $1.71 billion required.
According to this data, a significant portion of aid programs in the sectors of food, health, and emergency support face serious funding shortages. This situation unfolds while millions of the country’s residents remain dependent on urgent assistance, and reduced funding could threaten their access to basic services.
OCHA posed the question, “What does it mean to stay when food is not guaranteed?” and warned that Afghan families are forced to make difficult choices, such as whether to consume today’s food or save it for tomorrow, buy medicine or bread, or sell essential assets to survive.
Aid agencies have emphasized that continuing this situation could deepen the humanitarian crisis. Alongside the decline in global aid, existing restrictions and the absence of effective economic policies by the Taliban administration have worsened the situation and diminished people’s ability to secure sustainable livelihoods.
OCHA has called on the international community to urgently increase assistance to prevent further deterioration of the humanitarian situation, stating that support today can ensure the survival of millions of families tomorrow.
