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UN PhotoWFP / AFGHANISTAN CHILDREN MALNUTRITION
STORY: WFP / AFGHANISTAN CHILDREN MALNUTRITION
TRT: 02:12
SOURCE: WFP
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT WFP ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / PASHTO / NATS
DATELINE: 13 JULY 2026, KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN / 14 JULY 2026, HILMAND, AFGHANISTAN / 03 AUGUST 2026, KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
13 JULY 2026, KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN
1. Various shots, health facility in Afghanistan
14 JULY 2026, HILMAND, AFGHANISTAN
2. Various shots, children being tested for malnutrition with Mid Upper Arm Circumference tape (MUAC) and mothers receiving health information
03 AUGUST 2026, KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
3. SOUNDBITE (English) John Aylieff, Country Director in Afghanistan, World Food Programme (WFP):
“We must act now to stem the rise in child deaths, which this crisis is provoking. It is already too late for too many, but not for the hundreds of the thousands of acutely malnourished women and children who urgently need and deserve our help.”
14 JULY 2026, HILMAND, AFGHANISTAN
4. Various shots, Sadiqa’s two daughters test positive for malnutrition at a clinic in Hilmand
5. SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Sadiqa, Mother of Two Malnourished Children:
“I wish either I or they have died. I am sick myself – I have typhoid. I can’t breastfeed them because when I do, my body starts to shake. I can’t feed my child when I don’t eat myself, but when I eat, I can feed her. I am sick myself.”
6. Various shots, Sadiqa collects packets of fortified nutritional food for her children
03 AUGUST 2026, KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
8. SOUNDBITE (English) John Aylieff, Country Director in Afghanistan, World Food Programme (WFP):
“Amid conflict, climate disasters, unemployment and a crisis in the Middle East which has driven up the price of food, millions of women and children are becoming acutely malnourished and rushing to local health centres for help in desperate search of WFP food.”
13 JULY 2026, KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN
9. Various shots, market
Malnutrition is at critical levels in a third of Afghanistan’s provinces - a record number - and projected to continue to rise through October. Without urgent support, the World Food Programme (WFP) and its partners will be unable to prevent more children from becoming dangerously malnourished, putting lives at risk in the coming months.
Child malnutrition typically peaks in Afghanistan between July and October, driven by a surge in communicable diseases, poor water and sanitation, reduced access to essential nutrition services, and increasing levels of food insecurity.
Funding shortfalls are forcing WFP to scale back life-saving food and nutrition programmes. In 2025, 142 health centres across Afghanistan closed and more than 13,000 children were cut from nutrition treatment due to reductions in humanitarian assistance.
SOUNDBITE (English) John Aylieff, Country Director in Afghanistan, World Food Programme (WFP):
“We must act now to stem the rise in child deaths, which this crisis is provoking. It is already too late for too many, but not for the hundreds of the thousands of acutely malnourished women and children who urgently need and deserve our help.”
Sadiqa, 30, from Hilmand, is a mother of seven children. All of her children, except for her youngest, a six-month-old baby, have experienced malnutrition and received WFP-supported nutrition assistance.
Currently, two of her daughters, Sofia (3) and Nazdana (18 months), are suffering from malnutrition and require ongoing support. The family’s situation has become even more challenging as her husband has been ill with kidney problems for the past ten days and is unable to work. Previously, he earned a modest income as a day labourer, but his illness has left the family without a reliable source of livelihood.
SOUNDBITE (Pashto) Sadiqa, Mother of Two Malnourished Children:
“I wish either I or they have died. I am sick myself – I have typhoid. I can’t breastfeed them because when I do, my body starts to shake. I can’t feed my child when I don’t eat myself, but when I eat, I can feed her. I am sick myself.”
This year, remaining nutrition programmes were crippled by a severe shortage of nutrition products driven by conflict in the Middle East and the closure of the Pakistan border for nine months. These conflicts blocked supply routes and drove up costs. As a result, nearly one million malnourished mothers and children in Afghanistan missed out on essential nutrition services for five months.
SOUNDBITE (English) John Aylieff, Country Director in Afghanistan, World Food Programme (WFP):
“Amid conflict, climate disasters, unemployment and a crisis in the Middle East which has driven up the price of food, millions of women and children are becoming acutely malnourished and rushing to local health centres for help in desperate search of WFP food.”
Colliding crises—including conflict, unemployment, elevated food prices and reduced humanitarian funding—have driven this alarming rise in malnutrition and persistent food insecurity. WFP’s food and nutrition assistance is the lifeline preventing Afghan families from plunging into catastrophe, but this lifeline is being cut. From August to October, WFP's critical food distributions are being suspended, leaving vulnerable populations without essential assistance.
