Afghans today are facing a food insecurity and malnutrition crisis of “unparalleled proportions”, warned a UN official, as a staggering 95 percent of Afghans don’t have enough food to eat, warning, “the fate of an entire generation of Afghans is at stake.” 

“A staggering 95 percent of Afghans are not getting enough to eat, with that number rising to almost 100 percent in female-headed households,” said Ramiz Alokbarov, UN deputy special representative for Afghanistan said on Tuesday, calling the high figure as “almost conceivable.”  

The situation forced “households to resort to desperate measures such as skipping meals or taking on unprecedented debt to ensure there is some food on the table at the end of the day,” he said.

The number of people facing acute hunger in Afghanistan reached 23 million March this year, up from 14 million in July last year. 

“Hospital wards are filled with children suffering from malnutrition: smaller than they should be, many weighing at one year what an infant of six months would weigh in a developed country, and some so weak they are unable to move,” Ramiz, who is also the resident humanitarian coordinator for the country, said. 

Almost 2.3 million children from 28 out of the total 34 provinces are in urgent nutrition treatment, he said.

The severe drought situation in the last few years led to bad crops in the country. The regime changed last year in August, when the Taliban forced the US-backed Afghan government out, and escalated into what has now become one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.   

Foreign funds and development assistance from the international community, accounting for almost 80 percent of the government’s revenue, stopped last year. The western sanctions on the Taliban, the de-facto government, have resulted in the almost collapse of the Afghan economy. 

Crucial sectors like health and education, earlier entirely dependent on foreign funds, suffered most. Over 80 percent of the Afghans have been pushed under high debts due to loss of income and food insecurity. “We cannot ignore the reality facing communities”.

UN and other development partners have provided assistance to almost 8.2 million people this year so far. 

“Enormous challenge lies ahead,” Ramiz said, adding that the UN will be scaling its operations in the country in the coming months. 
 
On 31 March, the UN, United Kingdom, Germany, and Qatar will co-host an international pledging conference in support of the humanitarian response.

(SAM)