WFP alert: Afghan children at growing risk of malnutrition

Kabul: The World Food Programme (WFP) has said that 3.5 million children in Afghanistan are facing severe malnutrition due to reduced aid operations and warned that the country’s deteriorating humanitarian situation is putting millions at risk, local media reported on Friday.

In a statement shared on X, the WFP said it is working to help Afghan children through food-assistance programs despite facing operational challenges, according to Khaama Press, a well-known Afghan news agency. The WFP said it is distributing school meals to improve children’s growth, aiming to keep vulnerable students in the classroom amid growing economic pressures. The agency further said it provides nutritional services at health centers in Afghanistan to reduce malnutrition, especially among young children and pregnant or breastfeeding mothers.

The agency reported that it had previously warned that Afghan women were losing their children due to malnutrition and warned that food shortages would worsen with the onset of winter. Several international organizations have reduced or suspended their operations in Afghanistan due to interference by authorities and restrictions on women’s development. Earlier this month, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) stated that one in five children in Afghanistan is engaged in child labor, Afghanistan’s Tolo News reported.

UNICEF spokesperson in Afghanistan, Omidur Rahman Fazal, said, “UNICEF is committed to eliminating any form of child labor, regardless of the cause. Therefore, UNICEF emphasizes family-based solutions to this issue.” Suhel, a child laborer, said, “Some days when I go looking for work, there’s nothing, so I have to leave school and work. If I go to school, I can’t work. This job has no future, but school does.” Another child laborer, Ali Dad, said he wanted to go to school, but poverty prevented him from doing so.