Afghanistan’s child deaths are rising as food distributions face cuts, UN says
WFP says it can reach only one in seven malnourished women and children and needs $500 million to keep food aid going.
- On Tuesday, the UN World Food Programme reported that child wasting has reached critical levels in Afghanistan, forcing health workers to turn away six in seven malnourished women and children due to severe aid shortages.
- The U.S. and European countries have cut funding since January 2025, sharply reducing WFP operations, while conflict-related trade disruptions and mass returns further compound economic pressures on local services.
- Nearly 14 million Afghans face acute hunger as staple food prices surge 20% to 30%, according to the WFP. About 80% of severe wasting cases involve children under age two, who often arrive at clinics too late.
- "This is a crisis which is getting worse by the day and tragically one which we are unable to contain," said John Aylieff, WFP country director. The agency has halted famine-prevention food distributions in worst-hit areas.
- The WFP needs $500 million over the next six months to stop the crisis from escalating, as nearly 6 million Afghans have returned from neighbouring countries over the past three years, straining limited public services.
42 Articles
42 Articles
Afghanistan’s child deaths are rising as food distributions face cuts, U.N. says
Child malnutrition has reached critical levels in a third of Afghanistan's provinces and is expected to worsen as funding shortfalls force cuts in food distributions and other support, the U.N. World Food Program said Tuesday.
»The weak cries of malnourished babies echo through the clinics«: John Aylieff, country representative of the Uno World Food Programme, reports about the dramatic situation in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan child malnutrition hits critical levels in 12 provinces
The UN World Food Programme has warned that child malnutrition is worsening sharply across Afghanistan. Aid cuts, health centre closures and supply disruptions now threaten millions during the peak hunger season.
Acute child malnutrition reached critical levels in Afghanistan, where the number of children cared for in emergencies continues to increase, the UN warned Tuesday, whose assistance in the country is weak due to lack of funding.
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