KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Sweden has contributed $6.8 million to the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund for 2024, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
This brings Sweden’s total contributions to nearly $80 million since the fund’s inception in 2014, making it the fourth-largest donor, OCHA reported.
The latest funding comes at a critical time as Afghanistan faces a worsening humanitarian crisis due to a shortage of international aid. Since the Taliban’s takeover, the situation has deteriorated significantly, making Afghanistan one of the world’s most urgent crises.
The UN estimates that more than half of Afghanistan’s population—23.7 million people, including 12.4 million children—will need humanitarian assistance this year.
Despite the growing needs, humanitarian agencies are struggling with severe funding shortages. The UN’s $3.07 billion humanitarian appeal for Afghanistan remains underfunded, with only 25% of the required funds secured so far. This shortfall has forced many organizations to scale back or suspend their operations in the country.
In addition to the ongoing conflict, Afghanistan has been hit by natural disasters, including earthquakes, heavy rains, floods, and landslides. These events have inflicted significant financial losses on an already impoverished population.
The international humanitarian organizations emphasize that the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan cannot be resolved with humanitarian assistance alone and requires a comprehensive, sustained, and contextualized response from the international community.
They urge donor support for basic needs assistance, private sector growth initiatives, women’s empowerment, and livelihood generation, among other things.
