Afghanistan: Nearly 30% of Children to Face Crisis Levels of Hunger in 2024

Afghanistan continues to grapple with a severe hunger crisis that is gravely impacting millions of children across the country, Khaama Press reported yesterday in an article.

New figures from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) project that by October, over 12.4 million Afghans – nearly 28% of the population – will face acute food insecurity, with close to 2.4 million enduring emergency levels of hunger.

Save the Children reports that approximately 6.5 million Afghan children, nearly 30% of the youth population, are expected to experience crisis or emergency levels of hunger this year. This crisis has been exacerbated by the impacts of devastating floods, prolonged drought, and the return of over 1.4 million Afghan refugees from neighboring countries.

The article mentions that an estimated 2.9 million Afghan children under 5 are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2024.

While the severity of the crisis shows slight improvement from late 2023, persistent poverty, lack of resources, and anticipated declines in food aid threaten to reverse this progress.

Save the Children’s Country Director Arshad Malik warns, “Without increased international support, there is a danger that this trend could reverse.” With nearly half the Afghan population requiring assistance, urgent action is needed to prevent further devastation among the nation’s children.