KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has announced that in 2025 it delivered integrated humanitarian assistance to more than 20 million people across Afghanistan, including over 11 million children, amid deepening humanitarian needs nationwide.
According to UNICEF, its life-saving interventions focused on essential health services, education opportunities for out-of-school children, access to safe drinking water, treatment for children suffering from severe acute malnutrition, and nutrition support for mothers.
The organization reported that more than 20 million people were provided access to critical health services through supported health facilities and mobile teams operating across the country. These services were particularly vital in remote and crisis-affected areas where communities face limited access to basic care.
In the education sector, UNICEF supported learning opportunities for approximately 442,000 out-of-school children through more than 14,000 community-based classes, with girls making up 65 percent of enrolled students. The initiative aims to prevent long-term learning loss, especially among girls affected by ongoing restrictions and poverty.
Access to safe drinking water was ensured for more than 2.1 million people through water supply systems, emergency water trucking, and sanitation interventions. These efforts were critical in drought-affected and displacement-prone regions.
UNICEF also delivered life-saving treatment to more than 611,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. In addition, over 943,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women received nutrition support to prevent maternal and child mortality.
Humanitarian needs continued to rise in 2025 due to multiple compounding crises. UNICEF cited devastating earthquakes in eastern Afghanistan, prolonged drought conditions across 12 provinces, and the large-scale return of Afghan migrants from Iran and Pakistan as key drivers increasing pressure on already fragile basic services.
“Climate-related shocks and disasters continued to affect communities across Afghanistan. According to Afghanistan’s Natural Disasters Dashboard, 118,137 people were affected by natural disasters between 5 January and 3 November 2025, with 31 of 34 provinces experiencing at least one disaster event during that period.3 In addition, a major new shock in 2025 was the eastern region earthquake (including Kunar), where needs assessments confirmed that 8,471 families – nearly 56,000 people – were directly impacted.4 In addition, approximately 21 health facilities were damaged (19 in Kunar and two in Nangarhar) in the earthquake-affected area.5” UNICEF. Afghanistan Humanitarian Situation Report 1 January -31 December 2025.
The report further highlights that an estimated 17.4 million people are projected to face acute food insecurity in 2026, including 4.7 million experiencing emergency levels (IPC Phase 4).
Despite worsening humanitarian conditions, UNICEF warned that humanitarian funding for Afghanistan is declining, raising serious concerns about the sustainability of life-saving programs and the ability to reach the most vulnerable populations—especially children and women.
“Coordination efforts in 2025 emphasized operational learning and adaptation, particularly in outbreak preparedness and response, the integration of community-led total sanitation (CLTS) approaches for disease prevention and strengthened inter-sectoral collaboration with health and nutrition actors. However, persistent funding shortfalls, access constraints and administrative delays continued to limit the scale, timeliness and sustainability of WASH interventions, informing advocacy priorities and planning for the 2026 HNRP.” UNICEF. Afghanistan Humanitarian Situation Report 1 January -31 December 2025.
UNICEF reiterated its call for sustained international support, stressing that without urgent funding and coordinated humanitarian action, millions of Afghan children will remain at risk of malnutrition, disease, interrupted education, and long-term vulnerability.
