UN PROJECTS ACUTE HUNGER FOR 19.2 MILLION AFGHANS

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) projects that 19.2 million people in Afghanistan will face acute food insecurity this winter. Its Afghanistan spokesperson, Olga Cherevko, gave the forecast to reporters in Geneva on Tuesday. OCHA expects five million of those people to face emergency levels of hunger between November and April. Cherevko described that level as “one step away from famine”. OCHA said 15.9 million people faced crisis-level food insecurity or worse between September and October, including 3.4 million in emergency conditions.

OCHA also expects more than four million children under six to need treatment for acute malnutrition next year. Cherevko said more than one million of them could suffer severe acute malnutrition. She said about a third of Afghanistan’s nutrition sites had closed or suspended services, largely because of funding cuts. “Once these services disappear, the consequences could be irreversible, particularly for children,” she said. Cherevko linked families’ difficulty affording food to years of conflict, drought and economic hardship.

Cherevko said improved rainfall and agricultural production had not restored families’ ability to buy food. Afghanistan has received less international aid since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. The Taliban have imposed restrictions on women’s education and public life, and Cherevko said those rules were worsening the crisis. Citing UNICEF estimates, she said Afghanistan could lose up to 20,000 women teachers and 5,400 female health workers by 2030 if the restrictions continue. She urged food assistance before winter, support for farmers and livestock, and continued access to health, nutrition and water services.