Afghanistan’s child deaths rising as food distributions face cuts, says UN

Summary

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription Updated - August 05, 2026 12:09 pm IST - Rome Nearly 3.7 million Afghan children are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year, along with 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women, according to WFP. File. | Photo Credit: AP Child malnutrition has reached critical levels in a third of Afghanistan’s provinces and is expected to worsen as funding shortfalls force cuts in food distributions and other support, the UN World Food Program (WFP) said on Tuesday (August 4, 2026). “We must act now to stem the rise in child deaths, which this crisis is provoking,” John Aylieff, WFP’s country director in Afghanistan, said in a statement, adding that “it is already too late for too many.” Afghanistan continues to recover from decades of conflict and upheaval, including the chaotic withdrawal of US forces in 2021 as the Taliban took power. Olga Cherevko, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office in Afghanistan, said nutrition specialists report that “wasting among children has worsened this year in over three-quarters of the country.” Children suffering from a condition known as wasting are acutely malnourished, become very thin for their height, and need immediate therapeutic feeding. But “too many children arrive at health facilities severely malnourished”, while others never make it, Ms. Cherevko told reporters at UN headquarters by video from Afghanistan, where she has travelled across the country in recent months and weeks. WFP said 142 health centres closed in 2025 because of aid reductions and more than 13,000 children lost access to nutrition treatment. The Iran war and other fighting have delayed deliveries WFP said supply shortages linked to conflict in West Asia and the nine-month closure of Pakistan’s border because of fighting between the neighbours have disrupted deliveries of nutrition products, leaving nearly one million malnourished women and children without essential nutrition services for five months.