UN warns of worsening humanitarian situation in Afghanistan

Washington — Editor's note: this story was translated from the original VOA Dari article.

One-third of the population in Afghanistan faces crisis or worse levels of food insecurity, according to a U.N. update released Wednesday.

“Food insecurity and acute malnutrition continued to worsen in Afghanistan, with 15.9 million people facing crisis or worse levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase 3), including 3.4 million in Emergency (IPC Phase 4), while child wasting reached its highest recorded levels of the August-October period,” the United Nations Children’s Fund or UNICEF report said.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification is put together by representatives of national and local governments, U.N. agencies and non-governmental organizations to measure the severity of food insecurity and acute malnutrition in a country.

The IPC ranges from Phase 1, minimal or none, to Phase 5, famine. IPC 3 indicates crisis or serious food shortages, where households cannot meet their minimum food needs and either suffer from food shortages or adopt coping strategies that harm their ability to access food in the future.

The U.N. report said the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan remains critical, driven by worsening food insecurity and malnutrition, outbreaks of diseases, the return of millions of Afghans from neighboring countries and recurring climate disasters.

“Funding shortfalls and pressure on essential services further compounded humanitarian needs, particularly among children, women, returnees and disaster-affected communities,” the UNICEF report said.

According to the United Nations, Afghanistan will remain one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises in 2026, with nearly 22 percent of the population needing humanitarian assistance.

In October, UNICEF warned that more than four million Afghan children, the highest number recorded in the past five years, could need treatment for acute malnutrition in 2027.

The U.N. agency said that acute malnutrition is worsening across the country and is expected to rise further next year.

It added that nearly 1.1 million Afghan children will suffer from severe acute malnutrition in 2027 and about 3 million others will experience moderate acute malnutrition.

Some 1.3 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are also projected to suffer from malnutrition, UNICEF said.

It warns the number of Afghan provinces facing critical levels of malnutrition has increased from seven in 2025 to 10 in 2026 and is projected to reach 14 provinces in 2027, affecting more than one-third of the country.

UNICEF noted that some of the most severe levels of malnutrition continue to be recorded in southern Afghanistan, and that humanitarian needs are outpacing available services.

U.N. agencies warn that without urgent financial support; the country’s malnutrition crisis is likely to worsen.

Furthermore, the return of millions of Afghan refugees from Pakistan and Iran has put pressure on the available resources in the country.

The United Nations Development Program in Afghanistan said last month in a post on X that the large-scale return of Afghans has added “pressure on jobs, essential services and infrastructure.”

The U.N. said that nearly 1.3 million Afghans have returned, including those deported, from Pakistan and Iran, the two countries hosting most Afghan refugees, to Afghanistan so far in 2026.