WASHINGTON: According to a report that was released on Monday, experts attribute the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan—where more than 90% of households suffer from hunger—to inadequate Taliban governance and international policies.
While the international community is still debating how to assist Afghans without assisting the Taliban, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has already referred to this as “the worst humanitarian crisis on Earth.”
Another report from the Foreign Policy magazine states, “When the Taliban seized power last year, international donor assistance was reduced to a trickle, and the cuts were economically devastating.”
However, the Taliban government also bears some responsibility because it “has more capacity to provide relief than it lets on.”It blames Western sanctions for the crisis, but it is making money, especially through border trade,” the report continues.
The World Food Program (WFP) stated in its most recent report that it is now raising supplies to assist over 22 million people who are forced to “take desperate measures to get enough money to eat.” This report summarizes the food situation in Afghanistan until the end of November 2022.
In a recent BBC interview, WFP Executive Director David Beasley stated that the situation “is as bad as you possibly can imagine.”In point of fact, we are currently facing the most severe humanitarian crisis on Earth.
Human Rights Watch (HRW), based in the United States, expresses concern regarding the ever-increasing “humanitarian crisis” in Afghanistan, stating that “acute malnutrition is now entrenched across the country.”Over 90% of households have not had enough food for nearly a year.“If the weather is as bad as predicted this winter, millions of people, including children, are likely to face acute hunger and widespread famine,” according to other experts.
Between November 2022 and March 2023, 19.9 million people, or nearly half of the population, are anticipated to be acutely food insecure, according to the most recent WFP report.
According to preliminary estimates gathered by the World Food Program (WFP), 4.7 million children and 3.9 million pregnant and lactating women will be at risk for acute malnutrition in 2022. Acute food insecurity is at crisis or emergency levels in all 34 provinces. Since November, WFP has provided emergency food, nutrition, and livelihood assistance to 3.5 million individuals.15 million beneficiaries will be reached this month by ongoing distributions.
