Save the Children, WFP Highlight Escalating Hunger Crisis in Afghanistan

Tolo News
May 28, 2024

Save the Children, WFP Highlight Escalating Hunger Crisis in Afghanistan


Save the Children in a report stated that three out of every ten children—approximately 6.5 million children—in Afghanistan will face a hunger crisis this year.

The report further predicts that in 2024, nearly 2.9 million children under the age of five will suffer from acute malnutrition.

Floods, drought, and the return of Afghan refugees from Pakistan and Iran have been identified as key factors contributing to the rising food insecurity in Afghanistan.

Arshad Malik, country director for Save the Children in Afghanistan, said: "Save the Children has treated more than 7,000 children for severe or acute malnutrition so far this year. Those numbers are a sign of the massive need for continuing support for families as they experience shock after shock. Children are feeling the devastating impacts of 3 years of drought, high levels of unemployment and the return of more than 1.4 million Afghans from Pakistan and Iran."

At the same time, the World Food Programme has added that after reducing aid last year, the number of children suffering from malnutrition has increased, and now three million children in Afghanistan are malnourished.