WFP Warns 75% of Malnourished Afghan Children Cut Off From Aid

DID Press: Head of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Afghanistan has warned of a severe nutrition crisis, saying the agency can no longer support the majority of children suffering from acute malnutrition due to an unprecedented decline in international funding.

John Ayliffe, the WFP’s representative in Afghanistan, told the Associated Press that the country is facing an “unprecedented crisis in child nutrition.” He said around four million children in Afghanistan are acutely malnourished and in urgent need of treatment and food assistance.

Ayliffe stressed that the sharp drop in donor funding has drastically curtailed relief operations, leaving the agency able to reach only a fraction of children in need. As a result, nearly three-quarters of malnourished children are currently excluded from assistance due to lack of resources.

He warned that continued funding shortfalls could drive up child mortality and further deepen Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis. WFP officials have urged the international community to urgently mobilize resources to prevent the crisis from worsening.