KABUL, 27 MAY, 2024 - About 6.5 million children in Afghanistan [1] - or nearly three out of ten - will face crisis or emergency levels of hunger this year as the country feels the immediate impacts of floods, the long term effects of drought and the return of Afghans from Pakistan and Iran, said Save the Children.  

New figures from the global hunger monitoring body, the IPC [2], forecast that 28% of the population – or about 12.4 million people - will face acute food insecurity before October. Of those, nearly 2.4 million are predicted to experience emergency levels of hunger, which is one level below famine.  

The figures show a slight improvement from the last report in October 2023, but underline the continuing need for assistance, with poverty affecting one in two Afghans.