Attachments
In Numbers
Nearly 20 million people are projected to be acutely food-insecure between November 2022 and March 2023, including more than 6 million people in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency), according to preliminary estimates
4 million people are acutely malnourished, including 3.2 million children under the age of five
28.3 million people – two-thirds of Afghanistan’s population – require multi-sectoral humanitarian assistance in 2023
Highlights
• In 2022, WFP assisted more than 23 million people, distributing over 1.14 million mt of food and disbursing more than USD 325.8 million in cash-based transfers.
• Distributions are ongoing despite the delays caused by the ban against Afghan women working for non-governmental organizations. WFP and its partners continue to seek avenues for female cooperating partner staff to fully resume their vital work.
• WFP is facing a funding shortfall of US$763 million to sustain its operations in the next six months.
• WFP Afghanistan welcomes Ms. Hsiao-Wei Lee as its new Country Director, transitioning from her previous role as Deputy Country Director of the Afghanistan operation.
Situation Update
• Afghan women are officially banned from working for non-governmental organizations (NGOs), following a decree by de facto authorities issued on 24 December 2022.
• Nearly 20 million people in Afghanistan are acutely food-insecure (IPC 3+), including more than 6 million people on the brink of famine-like conditions in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency), according to preliminary projections for November 2022 to March 2023.
• Afghanistan continues to face the highest prevalence of insufficient food consumption globally. Results from WFP’s November Food Security Update show that nine in ten households consume insufficient food while 53 percent rely on crisis-level coping strategies to meet their basic food needs. On average, 88 percent of household income is spent on food, leaving little for other essential goods.
• Households headed by or hosting person/s with disabilities are disproportionately affected, as 62 percent are turning to coping strategies to put food on the table, compared to 51 percent for other households.
• The current food crisis is exacerbated by the climate crisis, as 30 out of 34 provinces in Afghanistan reported extremely low water quality. The proportion of households feeling the impact of drought in 2022 is six times greater than in 2020 as Afghanistan enters its third consecutive drought year.