15 Million People In Afghanistan At Risk Of Extreme Hunger Due To Severe Winter
International aid organisations have warned that one in three people in Afghanistan is at risk of starvation during the winter season.
International aid organisations have warned that one in three people in Afghanistan is at risk of starvation during the winter season.
According to estimates by the World Food Programme (WFP) and Save the Children, Afghan children will suffer from poor conditions for survival in the next three months.
"Hunger in Afghanistan is getting worse in the winter, and the WFP predicts that nearly 15 million people, or nearly a third of the Afghan population, will need food assistance to survive," WFP spokesperson Philippe Kropf told the British publication The Independent.
Another 570,000 Afghan children are expected to be malnourished next year, compared to this year.
Philippe Kropf said that in 2025, a total of 3.45 million children are likely to be malnourished.
According to another assessment conducted by Save the Children, more than half of Afghanistan's population, about 24 million people, will be in dire need of humanitarian assistance such as cash and food to avoid poverty and food insecurity in the coming months.
"As winter approaches, families in some parts of Afghanistan are forced to make painful choices about what to prioritise: food, heating the house or warm clothes for children," said Arshad Malik, Country Director (Afghanistan) at Save the Children
Malik said that nearly 6.5 million children, or 30 percent, are facing crisis or emergency levels of hunger. "One of the children told us he had no warm clothes – until they were provided by Save the Children," he told The Independent.
The World Food Programme (WFP) needs $787 million across all of its programmes over the next six months to ensure that vulnerable families in Afghanistan are safe from the risk of hunger and poverty, according to the figures provided.
As food prices rise during the winter, millions of Afghans, especially children, will face a shortage of nutritious food and thus, the risk of acute malnutrition, according to aid agencies.
The problem is exacerbated by the Taliban's lack of an efficient economy, blocked roads by snowfall, and cut off communication routes to remote areas.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the country needs at least $1 billion in aid to enable vulnerable Afghans to get through this winter.
However, according to Save the Children's data, the international community has yet to meet the needs of humanitarian funding.
Meanwhile, the Taliban government has not taken any steps to deal with the challenges in the winter season.
