Afghanistan: World Food Programme announces fund shortage as 28mn people require emergency aid

Kabul [Afghanistan], July 5 : As some 28 million people in Afghanistan are in dire need of emergency aid, the World Food Program (WFP) announced the organisation has decreased aid levels to needy families due to a lack of funds, reported Khaama Press.

WFP on Tuesday tweeted that the UN agency has decreased the number of vulnerable families who received aid to five million, mainly due to fund shortages in Afghanistan.

In 2023, it was estimated that nearly 15.3 million people are dealing with serious food insecurity in the war-torn country, WFP had earlier announced, as per Khaama Press.

Khaama Press News Agency is an Afghanistan-based news outlet established in 2010.

Previously, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA) had stated vulnerable Afghan families who need immediate humanitarian aid has increased from 6.3 million people before the fall of the former administration to 28.3 million people in 2023.

According to OCHA findings, nearly six million people are facing acute poverty, whereas, WFP has announced that in October 2023, nearly 2.8 million people are plagued with emergency food insecurity.

"Meanwhile, some 3.2 million people suffer from malnutrition in Afghanistan. With the return of the Taliban to power in August 2021, the lack of employment opportunities and the ban on Afghan women to work for NGOs and international aid organizations are separate factors fueling the humanitarian crisis in the country. Taliban authorities have repeatedly refused the reports and statistics about the level of poverty in the country. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs of the Taliban has recently accused the media and the West of exaggerating the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan," Khaama Press reported.

As Afghanistan continues to grapple with the extreme food crises, India has donated 10,000 metric tonnes of wheat to the landlocked country.

The 10,000 metric tonnes of wheat reached the Herat city of Afghanistan on Tuesday, United Nations World for Food Programme (UNWFP) said in a tweet on July 3.

"Wheat donated by the Government of #India @MEAIndia @dpa_meato @WFP arrived in Herat where it was milled for distribution to hungry families across #Afghanistan. This wheat is part of an in-kind contribution of 10,000 metric tons from India on top of 40,000 tons in 2022," UN WFP stated in the tweet. Last month, the Indian government sent another 20,000 metric tons of wheat to Afghanistan amid a humanitarian crisis in the country using Iran's Chabahar port, Afghanistan-based Khaama Press reported.

Earlier, another wheat assistance delivery of 40,000 tons was carried out through Pakistan's land border.

India shows its dedication to promoting the stability and prosperity of Afghanistan by widening the channels for aid distribution, as per Khaama Press.

Afghanistan, under the Taliban, is facing its worst humanitarian crisis and the women of the country are denied fundamental rights. According to a World Food Programme assessment, Afghanistan is one of the nations with extreme food insecurity, with nine million people affected by severe economic difficulties and hunger.

Since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, the law and order situation in the country has only deteriorated, with the rise in cases of terrorism and blasts.

The group banned women from going to schools, and later in December last year, they banned women from going to universities and working with aid agencies.

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