KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said it will provide cash assistance to one million vulnerable families in Afghanistan this year.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) today, February 5, OCHA stated that in Afghanistan, cash assistance enables families to prioritize essential needs such as food, medicine, and winter supplies based on individual circumstances.
According to OCHA, 89% of households prefer this type of dignified support.
The Afghanistan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) estimates that 23.7 million Afghans—more than half of the population—will need humanitarian assistance. Among them, 52% are children, and 25% are women.
Afghanistan has also been struck by a series of natural disasters, including earthquakes, landslides, and heavy rains, which have caused not only human casualties but also significant financial losses for the already impoverished population.
However, the humanitarian response is facing a major funding shortfall.
The UN’s $3.07 billion appeal for Afghanistan remains critically underfunded, with only 25% of the necessary funds secured so far. Humanitarian agencies have warned that without sufficient resources, they will be unable to meet the growing needs of Afghan communities.
International aid organizations emphasize that the ongoing crisis cannot be resolved through humanitarian aid alone. They have called for a comprehensive, sustained, and context-specific approach from the international community to address Afghanistan’s escalating economic, social, and environmental challenges.
