Severe Funding Constraints Cut Assistance to 4 Million Afghans, Says WFP

World Food Programme (WFP) announced that due to funding constraints, it has been forced to cut assistance to four million Afghans in April. WFP warned that if additional funds are not received, it will be forced to cut assistance to an additional four million people in May.

According to the new report of WFP, the organisation was supposed to aid 13 million Afghans in April, but due to the lack of funds, only nine million people had been provided support.

WFP stressed that nearly 20 million people are projected to be acutely food-insecure between November 2022 and March 2023.

The World Food Programme added four million people are acutely malnourished, including 3.2 million children under the age of 5.

The United Nations has identified 28.3 million people, which comprise two-thirds of Afghanistan's population, as people in need of humanitarian assistance.

WFP said that hunger is primarily driven by the economic crisis that has gripped Afghanistan since August 2021, compounded by decades of conflict, climate shocks, and severe restrictions on the rights of women and girls to work and pursue higher education.

The World Food Programme has reported that 82 of the 100 partner institutions of the organisation are in fully operational and female staff from 80 partner organisations are engaged in activities across all provinces of Afghanistan.