Malnutrition is reaching record levels in Afghanistan with over one-third of the country’s population experiencing severe hunger, the United Nations is reporting.
According to UN estimates, 15.9 million Afghans are facing acute food insecurity, with 3.4 million confronting famine conditions.
Conditions are projected to worsen over the winter and spring. Over 4 million children will need treatment for malnutrition in 2027, the UN projects. “Declining humanitarian assistance is reducing households’ ability to cope,” the report states.
UN agencies issued an urgent funding appeal on October 15. “We still have a window to act, but it is closing fast,” the report quotes World Food Programme Country Director John Aylieff as saying. “With urgent support, families can get through the winter with dignity. Without it, many will face impossible choices no parent should have to make.”
Amid the burgeoning food availability crisis, the Taliban government is stepping up repressive measures, according to a separate UN update on human rights.
In September, a country report issued by UN Secretary-General’s office warned that the Taliban’s authoritarian policies, especially the “enforced denial of the rights of women and girls,” combined with economic dysfunction and the difficulties experienced by outside aid agencies in operating, are destabilizing the country.
“The appearance of relative stability in Afghanistan through the de facto authorities’ overall territorial and administrative control masks the accumulating risks that could impact the country’s stability over the short and long term,” the Secretary-General’s report states.
Many Taliban “policies undermine the country’s capacity to manage the multitude of current and foreseeable challenges,” it adds.