Child malnutrition surges amid aid cuts

Child malnutrition in Afghanistan has reached critical levels, while severe funding shortages are forcing health workers to turn away millions of children and mothers in need, the UN World Food Programme said on Tuesday.

The agency can now assist only one in seven acutely malnourished women and children, leaving six in seven without treatment.

Child wasting, the deadliest form of malnutrition, has reached critical levels in one-third of Afghanistan’s provinces, WFP Country Director John Aylieff told reporters in Geneva.

Admissions of malnourished children to health centres are also rising sharply.
“This is a crisis which is getting worse by the day and a tragic one which we are unable to contain,” Aylieff said.

Around 80 percent of the most severe cases involve children under two, and many are reaching clinics too late to be saved, he added.

Child wasting occurs when a child becomes dangerously thin for their height because of rapid weight loss, inadequate food intake or illness. The crisis has been intensified by trade disruptions, rising food prices, large-scale returns of Afghans from neighbouring countries and deep cuts in international aid.

Nearly six million Afghans have been forcibly returned from neighbouring countries since expulsion policies began in late 2023, placing additional pressure on jobs, healthcare and other public services, according to WFP.

Staple food prices have increased by between 20 and 30 percent, while nearly 14 million people are facing acute hunger.

Although an improved harvest this year has offered some relief, WFP said its benefits have been outweighed by economic pressures, mass returns and shrinking aid.

The United States, previously the largest donor, and several European countries have reduced funding since January 2025.

In March, treatment was available to one in four children in need, but the figure has now fallen to one in seven malnourished women and children.

“We’re turning them away empty-handed with absolutely nothing,” Aylieff said.
WFP has also halted food distributions aimed at preventing famine in the worst-affected areas because of insufficient funding.

The agency said it needs $500 million over the next six months to prevent the crisis from deteriorating further.