The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that without immediate funding, millions in Afghanistan, especially children and pregnant women, will be deprived of vital food assistance and nutrition-related medical services. This situation could lead to an increase in preventable deaths.<\/p>\n
According to the agency\u2019s report, 14 million people in the country currently face acute food insecurity, yet due to funding shortages, only one in nine of those in need have access to food assistance. Furthermore, one in three Afghans is struggling with severe hunger, and child malnutrition rates have reached their highest recorded levels in 12 provinces.<\/p>\n
The WFP stated that wasting, the deadliest form of malnutrition, has reached a critical level in one-third of the country\u2019s provinces, with a significant rise in the number of children admitted to medical centers with severe malnutrition. John Aylieff, WFP\u2019s country director in Afghanistan, noted that 80% of severe cases involve children under two years old, many of whom arrive at centers too late to save their lives.<\/p>\n
Due to decreased humanitarian funding, this year only one in seven women and children suffering from severe malnutrition receives nutritional services, while six others are turned away untreated. Additionally, the distribution of nutrient-rich food to prevent malnutrition and stunted growth in children has been completely halted since May 2025.<\/p>\n
The WFP identified escalating conflict, widespread unemployment, a 20 to 30 percent rise in food prices, reduced international aid, and disrupted trade routes as the main factors worsening the crisis. The agency also reported that since September 2023, nearly six million Afghans have been forcibly returned from Iran and Pakistan\u2014a process that, according to the WFP, has placed additional pressure on the fragile economy and labor market.<\/p>\n
John Aylieff emphasized that Afghanistan lacks the capacity to create jobs for this number of returnees, many of whom face poverty, unemployment, and food shortages upon returning. He warned that approximately $900 million in funding is needed for continued emergency relief and nutrition programs in 2026, and at least $500 million is urgently required to meet immediate needs by the end of this year.<\/p>\n
The report highlighted the plight of a family in Kandahar province. Farida, a mother of three children, said her husband\u2019s daily income from street vending is less than one dollar, and the family often survives on just bread and tea. According to the WFP, two of the children suffer from anemia, and the six-year-old has missed school for months due to severe malnutrition.<\/p>\n
The World Food Programme is one of the largest aid organizations in Afghanistan, working alongside UNICEF to support children under five and pregnant and breastfeeding women affected by malnutrition. However, a sharp decrease in international aid threatens the continuation of these programs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UN warns millions in Afghanistan risk starvation without urgent funding for food aid and nutrition programs, especially children and pregnant women.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-important-news","category-social-affairs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlaspress.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlaspress.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlaspress.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlaspress.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlaspress.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atlaspress.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlaspress.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlaspress.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlaspress.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlaspress.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}