Catastrophic aid shortfall in Afghanistan as hunger surges and women face greater restrictions
NEW YORK CITY: Leading UN officials on Monday warned of a deteriorating humanitarian emergency in Afghanistan, amid chronic underfunding of aid efforts, a worsening hunger crisis and escalating restrictions on women, the combined effects of which are pushing millions of Afghans deeper into destitution.
Briefing the security council, Edem Wosornu, director of the Crisis Response Division at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that nearly half of the country’s population requires humanitarian assistance but this year’s response plan, which requires $1.71 billion of funding to help 17.5 million people, has received just 15 percent of this target.
The consequences can already be seen, she added: the reach of the humanitarian response has diminished by 40 percent compared with last year, with 3 million fewer people receiving assistance.
The World Food Programme has warned that unless more funding is urgently provided, famine-prevention activities for approximately 1.5 million people in high-risk areas will be cut.
