KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The World Food Programme (WFP) says that over 650,000 mothers and children in Afghanistan have been cut off from essential nutrition aid as a result of severe funding shortfalls.
In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), the WFP highlighted that Afghan women and children are bearing the heaviest burden of the country’s ongoing humanitarian crisis.
A video shared by the organization features a nutrition expert who explains that many women seeking help report that their husbands are unemployed, and their families struggle to afford even one meal per day. Some have resorted to sending their children out to beg in an effort to survive.
The expert urged donor nations and the wider international community not only to maintain but to scale up their support for Afghanistan.
The humanitarian situation in the Taliban controlled Afghanistan has continued to worsen in recent years. According to the UN, nearly 23 million people in Afghanistan require humanitarian assistance in 2025, with 16.8 million considered a priority for aid.
Women and children are particularly vulnerable. The WFP predicts that over 3.5 million children in Afghanistan will suffer from malnutrition in 2025—an alarming rate of one child every ten seconds.
Humanitarian agencies have warned that sharp declines in funding threaten to undermine life-saving programs. The United States, previously the largest donor to Afghanistan, has recently halted some forms of assistance over concerns about Taliban access to aid, further exacerbating the crisis.
In previous statements, the WFP has described the suspension of U.S. food assistance to countries like Afghanistan as a “death sentence” for millions facing extreme hunger and starvation.
