ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s World Food Program says the company can feed solely half of hundreds of thousands of needy Afghans after cuts in worldwide support and a looming freeze in US international funding.
Many individuals lived solely on “bread and tea”, WFP nation director Hsiaoo-Wei Lee instructed Reuters.
Afghanistan has been tipped to the brink of financial disaster in 2021 because the Taliban took over and all improvement and safety help to the nation was frozen, with restrictions additionally positioned on the banking sector.
Since then, humanitarian support – aimed toward funding pressing wants by means of non-profit organizations and bypassing authorities management – has crammed a part of the hole. But donors have reduce steadily lately, involved about Taliban restrictions on ladies, together with their order that Afghan NGO staff cease working, and competing with international crises.
Lee instructed Reuters shortly earlier than ending his three-year tenure in Afghanistan that funding cuts had meant that about half of the 15 million Afghans in acute want of meals weren’t receiving rations throughout this 12 months’s harsh winter.
“That’s over 6 million individuals who in all probability eat one or two meals a day and it is simply bread and tea,” he mentioned in an interview on Saturday. “Sadly that is what the state of affairs appears to be like like for thus many who’ve been faraway from care.”
Afghanistan’s humanitarian plan was solely half funded in 2024, in response to United Nations knowledge, and support officers have flagged fears this might fall additional this 12 months.
The US State Department issued a “stop-work” order on Friday for all present international help and paused new support, in response to a cable reported by Reuters, after President Donald Trump ordered a pause to evaluate whether or not support allocation was aligned with its international coverage.
It was not instantly clear how this may impression Afghanistan’s humanitarian operations, which as of 2024 have been greater than 40 % funded by the United States, its largest donor.
“I believe any potential discount in help for Afghanistan is clearly about … whether or not it is help for the WFP or one other actor,” Lee mentioned.
“The ranges of want are so excessive right here in Afghanistan. I definitely hope that any selections made, any implementation of selections made take into accounts the wants of the individuals: the ladies, the kids,” he mentioned.
Western diplomats and support officers have mentioned support is flowing into Afghanistan partly due to international emergencies in Sudan, Ukraine and Gaza and likewise due to considerations with Taliban restrictions on ladies.
