In the country, the population is experiencing an unprecedented food crisis: 6.6 million people are on the brink of starvation
In the year since the Taliban came to power, the situation in Afghanistan has markedly deteriorated. Although the fighting has significantly reduced, targeted attacks remain commonplace, checkpoints still line the roads, landmines still kill and injure civilians, and reports of enforced disappearances, unlawful detentions and extrajudicial killings continue to emerge. The environment remains tense, but on top of that, what was already a severe humanitarian crisis has become even more acute.
24.4 million people are now in need of humanitarian assistance – an increase of 30% compared to 2021 – and the needs are growing by the day as the crisis continues to deepen. The impact of the sanctions against the Taliban and the freezing of the country’s assets have led to a shortage of cash in the country, a sharp rise in inflation and a devastating economic crash. As a result, food prices have soared and this, combined with job losses and the loss of livelihoods – due to the ongoing drought – means that the vast majority of the population can no longer afford to feed their families. Consequently, the country is facing a hunger crisis of unparalleled proportions: a record 20 million people – almost half the entire population – are currently experiencing acute levels of food insecurity, and 6.6 million are on the brink of starvation. Nationwide, it is estimated that over 3.2 million children will suffer from acute malnutrition by the end of this year, and that one million of them will die if they are not able to receive immediate treatment.
To stave off hunger, families have been resorting to desperate measures to try and put food on the table. Having exhausted nearly all their regular coping strategies – including selling their belongings and borrowing money – many are now in debt and, as a result, increasing numbers of people are sending their children out to work to supplement the household income. In extreme cases, some have reached a point where they feel they have no other option but to sell their daughters into early marriages so that they can collect their dowry and use the money to feed the remaining members of their family.
The health care system is collapsing
To add to these problems, access to health care is becoming increasingly difficult. Prior to August, the country’s health system was funded almost entirely by the World Bank, but all this funding was cut when the Taliban came to power and, as a result, district clinics and hospitals are no longer fully functional: doctors have not been paid for months and have gone to look for work in the cities, medical supplies are running out and hospital wards are becoming increasingly overcrowded – including those treating children for malnutrition. Many people live in rural areas that are over a two hour walk from the nearest health facility, and there is no way that they can afford to pay the transport fee to get to one. This means that they cannot seek treatment for their malnourished children until the last possible moment, which is one of the reasons why there are now often two to three children sharing each hospital bed – a sign of how critical the hunger crisis has become.
To address this, NGOs like INTERSOS are scaling-up their operations to reach more people – particularly in remote areas that were previously inaccessible due to the conflict – but the needs are so vast that we cannot meet them by ourselves. It is vital that development funding returns to the country so that the health system – which was already so fragile even before August 2021 – can become fully operational once more. But more than that, increased funding for the country overall is needed. The UN has called for $4.44 billion to meet the growing needs – the largest appeal ever for a single country – yet to-date, only around $2 billion has been raised, and it is not enough.
However, the responsibility of addressing the multiple crises in Afghanistan should not fall to the humanitarian community alone. Humanitarian aid can only achieve so much, and it can never be a substitute for a functioning economy. It is therefore vital that the international community and the Taliban find a way to work together to kickstart it. One clear way to do this would be through lifting the sanctions and returning Afghanistan’s frozen assets to the country’s central bank. This would make it possible for people to access their savings, for businesses to re-open, and for people to find work, earn an income and feed their families once again. Although there is no doubt that there would be inherent risks with this approach, these can be mitigated against and the alternative is unthinkable. Too many millions of lives are at risk for inaction to continue, and any further suffering must be prevented.