Hunger Threatens One-Third of Afghan Children

The non-governmental organization Save the Children has expressed grave concerns that nearly 6.5 million Afghan children are at risk of facing alarming levels of hunger in 2024.

Afghanistan is grappling with the immediate impacts of recent floods, the long-term effects of previous droughts, and the return of hundreds of thousands of refugees to their homes.

Save the Children reports that "three out of every ten Afghan children will face emergency or catastrophic hunger levels this year."

International relief organizations have issued new warnings about the deteriorating humanitarian situation for children in Afghanistan.

Predictions indicate that one-third of the population will suffer from food insecurity by the upcoming fall season.

Earlier this month, heavy rains and flash floods swept through northern Afghanistan, resulting in over 400 deaths and the destruction of thousands of homes and vast tracts of farmland.

Last year, severe droughts affected various regions of Afghanistan, depleting water levels in major rivers and causing widespread drinking water shortages, particularly in southern and western provinces.

Relief experts say the successive droughts and floods have exacerbated Afghanistan's existing food shortage crisis.

The influx of more than 1.4 million returning refugees in recent months has further strained the country’s food resources.

According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which evaluates global food security and nutrition data, approximately 28% of Afghanistan’s population—nearly 12.4 million people—will face acute food insecurity by October this year.

Save the Children warns that 2.4 million of these individuals will experience emergency levels of hunger.

The report also indicates that up to 2.9 million Afghan children under the age of five are likely to suffer from acute malnutrition this year.

Arshad Malik, the head of Save the Children’s operations in Afghanistan, stated that since the beginning of this year, the organization has treated over 7,000 Afghan children for severe or acute malnutrition.

Malik emphasized the urgent need for substantial support to help families cope with these ongoing crises.

Malik attributes the escalating hunger crisis among Afghan children to the devastating effects of three years of drought, rising unemployment rates, and the large number of returning refugees.

He underscores the necessity of developing long-term community-based solutions to assist affected families in rebuilding their lives amidst these challenges.