Afghanistan is at the biggest risk of famine in a quarter-century, according to the U.N. food agency, and it urgently needs $800 million over the next six months.
After the Taliban took power in August 2021 and the economy collapsed that followed, aid organizations have been supplying food, education, and health care assistance to Afghans. However, a Taliban decree that forbade women from working for domestic and foreign nonprofit organizations last December has had a significant negative impact on distribution.
Although the U.N. was not a party to this restriction, it claimed last week that Afghan women were no longer permitted to work for its agencies there because of the Taliban-led government. The restriction has not yet been addressed by the authorities.
The World Food Program stated that female staff members are actively involved in delivering the organization’s food and nutrition support and that it will “make every possible effort” to maintain this.
“The WFP urgently needs $800 million for the next six months to continue providing assistance to people in need across Afghanistan,” the organization said. “Catastrophic hunger knocks on Afghanistan’s doors and unless humanitarian support is sustained, hundreds of thousands more Afghans will need assistance to survive.”