United Nations food agency has cut another 2 million people in Afghanistan from its food aid programme owing to shortfall of funds. According to reports, cumulatively, 10 million people will be cut off from aid this year.
The new cuts mean the agency will be able to provide food assistance to about a fifth of the 15 million people who need it in Afghanistan, the agency said. In a statement, WFP said, “Due to a massive funding shortfall, going forward WFP will only be able to provide emergency assistance to 3 million people per month.”
Hsiao-Wei Lee, WFP’s Country Director and Representative in Afghanistan said, “Amid already worrying levels of hunger and malnutrition, we are obliged to choose between the hungry and the starving, leaving millions of families scrambling for their next meal.” Lee added, “With the few resources we have left, we are not able to serve all those people teetering on the edge of utter destitution.”
“WFP had to reduce rations from 75 to 50 per cent for communities experiencing emergency levels of hunger. In April and May, it was forced to cut off 8 million people from food assistance. WFP is often the last lifeline for women, who are increasingly being pushed out of society, with dwindling options for making a living and feeding their children,” it said. WFP stated it needs US$1 billion to reach a planned 21 million people with lifesaving food and nutrition assistance as well as livelihood support.
The Taliban promised a more moderate rule than during their previous period in power in the 1990s. But they have imposed harsh measures since seizing Afghanistan in August 2021 as US and NATO forces were pulling out after two decades of war.
Among their actions, the Taliban have prohibited Afghan women from working at local and non-governmental organisations. Aid agencies have been providing food, education, and health care support to Afghans in the wake of the Taliban takeover of August 2021 and the economic collapse that followed. The ban was extended to employees of the United Nations in April.
The measures have triggered a fierce international uproar, increasing the country's isolation at a time when its economy has collapsed and its humanitarian crisis grows more grim.
“The cuts announced Tuesday mean that 1.4 million new and expecting mothers and their children are no longer receiving specialised food designed to prevent malnutrition,” the programme said. WFP expects to see a sharp rise in admissions to nutrition centres in the months to come as children slide deeper into hunger.
(With PTI inputs.)