More Than One Million Mothers and Children in Afghanistan Deprived of UN Food Aid
The World Food Programme (WFP) has revealed that over one million mothers and children in Afghanistan are no longer receiving essential food assistance due to critical funding shortages, Afghanistan International reported yesterday.
In a statement released on Sunday, the WFP highlighted that Afghan women are disproportionately affected by the reduction in aid.
In 2024, the WFP had previously supported approximately 1.6 million pregnant and breastfeeding women by providing them with nutritious food. However, the ongoing financial crisis has severely impacted these efforts.
A report from the World Health Organization in June underscored the dire situation, indicating that every day, 24 mothers and 167 children in Afghanistan succumb to preventable illnesses related to pregnancy and childbirth. The WFP has consistently described Afghanistan as the most challenging country in the world for women, emphasizing the urgent need for international support to address this humanitarian crisis.
Currently, a third of the Afghan population, or nearly 16 million people, are going hungry, and every province is at crisis levels of food insecurity, or higher, according to the UN agency.
The situation has deteriorated by years of natural disasters including deadly earthquakes and devastating floods, coupled with restrictive policies of the Taliban for economic engagement of women in the impoverished country.
