Kabul, March 27
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that in 2025 a whopping 3.5 million children in Afghanistan are at risk of malnutrition. The agency expressed concern over the huge number of children expected to be affected. Additionally, 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding mothers are suffering from malnutrition and urgently need treatment and nutrition support.
“Once a child or a woman becomes malnourished, we have to help them, or they risk worsening to severe malnutrition, which is a life-threatening situation. The mortality risk is very high for moderately malnourished children – three times higher than for children who are not malnourished,” says Mona Shaikh, Head of Nutrition for the WFP in Afghanistan.
The UN agency in its report said that nearly one-third of Afghanistan’s population – up to 15 million people – need emergency food assistance to survive. Eight out of ten families cannot afford a minimally nutritious diet, and three out of four families have to borrow money to buy basic groceries.
WFP says it urgently needs $555 million to maintain vital food assistance across all its programmes for six months. Without additional funding, critical programs for women, children and families – including emergency food assistance, malnutrition treatment, school feeding and vocational training for women – are at risk in Afghanistan.
Currently, WFP can only provide emergency food assistance to just over 6 million people per month out of the nearly 15 million people in need across the country.