World Food Programme: Women and Children in Afghanistan Bear the Brunt of the Humanitarian Crisis

In a post on its X page on Thursday (April 10), the organization released a video announcing that due to funding shortages, more than 650,000 mothers and children in Afghanistan no longer receive essential nutritional assistance.

In the video, a nutrition expert from the organization explains that many of the women who come to them report that their husbands are unemployed and that they can only afford one meal per day.

The expert adds that some families have been forced to send their children out to beg.

The WFP nutrition expert emphasized that food aid improves the lives of people and reduces malnutrition. She called on the world to not only avoid stopping their assistance to Afghanistan but also to increase it.

This warning comes as the United States has halted its aid to the WFP in Afghanistan, citing concerns over the Taliban's access to the aid.

Cindy McCain, the head of the WFP, previously warned in response to this decision that the reduction of emergency food assistance could be "a death sentence" for millions facing severe hunger.

According to United Nations figures, 22.9 million people in Afghanistan need humanitarian aid this year, with 16.8 million of them prioritized for assistance.

This comes at a time when the Taliban, despite their promises, have failed to take effective action to combat the hunger crisis over the past three years. Recently, Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Taliban, during Eid prayers in Kandahar, dismissed reports of poverty and hunger as "intelligence propaganda," stating that God created the poor and that no one is responsible for the poverty of citizens.