KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has raised the alarm over a severe shortage of life-saving therapeutic food in Afghanistan, attributing the crisis to a significant drop in global funding.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on April 17, Tajudeen Oyewale, UNICEF’s representative in Afghanistan, stated that 3.5 million children under the age of five are suffering from malnutrition this year, with 1.5 million at risk of severe acute malnutrition.
Oyewale stressed that urgent and immediate support is critical to save lives, as the situation worsens.
The World Food Programme (WFP) echoed similar concerns earlier, warning that every ten seconds, a child in Afghanistan slips into malnutrition.
WFP’s Afghanistan country director, Mutinta Chimuka, said the country is currently facing the most severe child malnutrition crisis in its history.
The UN Food Programme also cited a critical funding gap, emphasizing that with sufficient resources, the malnutrition emergency could be prevented.
Malnutrition has long plagued Afghanistan, exacerbated by droughts, poverty, displacement, and collapsing livelihoods. The crisis has deepened further since the Taliban’s return to power, which led to an economic collapse and a sharp drop in international aid.
According to WFP, around four million children, infants, and breastfeeding mothers experienced malnutrition in Afghanistan in 2024 alone.
