KABUL: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has reduced food rations for an additional 2 million Afghan people this month, warning of a potentially “catastrophic” winter if funding dwindles. According to the WFP country director, food is not sufficiently available for remote communities.
This reduction in rations amidst growing concern over the diminishing aid for Afghanistan. The UN humanitarian response plan remains severely underfunded despite budget adjustments due to insufficient funds. WFP’s food and cash assistance funding will be run out by the end of October. The organization has steadily decreased assistance to 10 million Afghans throughout the year.
Furthermore, the WFP’s ability to pre-position food in areas that will become inaccessible during the winter has been limited. Without adequate funding, 90 percent of the remote regions in need will be cut off from food supplies. Even in inaccessible locations, people will receive no assistance during the harsh weather.
WFP Afghanistan Country Director Hsiao-Wei Lee stressed the need to avert this catastrophe, stating, “That is the catastrophe that we have to avert.”
Approximately three-quarters of Afghanistan’s population requires humanitarian aid as the country emerges from decades of conflict under the internationally isolated Taliban regime, which took control as US-backed foreign forces withdrew in 2021. Development assistance that once sustained the government’s finances has been reduced, and the administration faces sanctions while its foreign assets are frozen.
The Taliban’s restrictions on women, including preventing most female Afghan humanitarian staff from working, hinder formal recognition and have discouraged donors. Many donors have shifted their focus to other humanitarian crises.
Lee emphasized the importance of donors prioritizing those most in need, stating, “What I do in my engagements with them is remind them that at the end of the day, we must focus on those most in need. The cost of inaction is ultimately borne and paid for by the most vulnerable and poor mothers and children.”
Almost 20 percent of the individuals receiving assistance from the WFP are women heading households. According to Lee, these women are becoming increasingly desperate due to restrictions on women’s activities and the economic crisis, which has limited their means of earning a living.
Lee emphasized that the WFP often serves as the last lifeline for those who have no other alternatives, stating, “It’s extremely difficult not only for myself but for our team to have to explain to mothers that we can’t help them.”
Currently, three million people are receiving food aid, but after October, there is a looming possibility of receiving no assistance at all. Lee highlighted the urgent need for $1 billion in funding to continue providing food aid and carry out planned projects until March.
For Kabul resident Baba Karim, aged 45, the cash assistance he received twice this year from the WFP has been a critical supplement to his income, which is less than $2 a day from his job at a local market where he operates a pushcart.
“I’m so worried about what will happen next, now that the assistance has ended,” said the father of five. “I lie awake at night worrying about the future of my children.”
