KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — The European Union (EU) has allocated an additional €25 million (over $26 million) to support the World Food Programme (WFP) humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan.
In a statement on Monday, September 9, WFP announced the new funding, stating it will allow the organization to provide life-saving assistance to vulnerable families and offer nutritional food for breastfeeding mothers and children under five.
According to the statement, with the new funding, WFP will support nearly 600,000 people with food or cash assistance and provide specialized nutritious food to over 250,000 pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, as well as more than 140,000 children.
“Food security in Afghanistan is marginally improving, largely thanks to massive humanitarian assistance from partners like the European Union,” said Mutinta Chimuka, WFP Deputy Country Director in Afghanistan.
“Our overarching goal is to address hunger and promote food security for the most vulnerable across the country, especially for women and children who are often hit the hardest by food insecurity.”
Afghanistan has been grappling with a severe humanitarian crisis for years, even before the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021. Since then, the situation has worsened, with nearly 24 million people, including 12.4 million children, now in need of life-saving aid.
Earlier, Save the Children reported that over 6 million children in Afghanistan, or six out of ten, will face crisis or emergency levels of hunger this year. The international humanitarian agency also projected that nearly 3 million children under the age of five in Afghanistan will suffer from acute malnutrition in 2024.
Meanwhile, humanitarian agencies have been facing one of the most severe funding shortfalls in the past years, as global attention remains primarily focused on ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.
The UN reports that its $3.07 billion humanitarian appeal for Afghanistan this year remains critically underfunded, with only 25% of the requested amount secured so far and less than four months remaining in the year.
WFP says that last year it reached a total of 18.6 million people, including 9.3 women, across its programs, distributing 600,000 metric tons of food and disbursing $190 million in cash or vouchers to help families in need.
According to WFP, the latest EU funding follows a previous contribution of over $80 million last year and more than $45 million in 2022, totaling over $160 million in the past three years.
