WFP Warns of ‘Harrowing’ Malnutrition Crisis Facing Afghan Women and Children Amid Aid Cuts
WFP official John Aylieff warns 5 million Afghans face acute malnutrition as aid cuts force women into desperation, including early marriage and suicide.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - A deepening malnutrition crisis is inflicting severe consequences on women and girls in Afghanistan, with the World Food Programme’s top official in the country warning that the international community is failing vulnerable populations as funding dries up, according to a report by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
John Aylieff, the WFP director for Afghanistan, described the situation to AFP as a "heartbreaking" struggle to feed families in a nation where the United Nations agency supplies the majority of food aid.
The crisis comes against a backdrop of reduced international donations and ongoing friction regarding the governance of the Taliban, which has run the country since 2021.
While the Afghan administration has faced foreign criticism for banning women from most professions and restricting girls’ education beyond age 12, the reduction in aid is having a direct, life-threatening impact on the ground.
Aylieff provided stark projections for the coming year. Speaking to AFP, he estimated that in the next 12 months, five million women and children out of a population of more than 40 million will experience acute malnutrition, a condition he classified as life-threatening.
Furthermore, nearly four million children are expected to require treatment for malnutrition, figures the director characterized as "staggering."
The deterioration in food security is closely linked to a sharp decline in financial support.
Aylieff told AFP that following "immensely generous" funding levels in 2021 and 2022, contributions have steadily eroded.
He noted that the $600 million in donations the WFP received for 2024 was halved last year. This retrenchment has forced the agency to scale back operations significantly.
"I think we are, as an international community, abandoning and letting down the very people, women and children in particular, that we pledged to protect," Aylieff said. The consequences of these cuts are visible in the closure of clinics designed to treat malnourished children.
Aylieff described the "heartbreaking" scenario of mothers carrying their children for four or five hours to reach a clinic, only to be informed that the WFP no longer possesses the funds necessary to provide treatment. "If we can't treat children with malnutrition, those children are going to die," he warned.
The AFP report highlighted that the crisis is disproportionately affecting women, particularly those who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
Aylieff identified a "dramatic surge" in malnutrition among this demographic as one of the most surprising phenomena of 2025. Without access to food assistance, many women are sacrificing their own nutrition to feed their children.
The desperation caused by the lack of aid has led families to adopt extreme coping mechanisms.
In areas where the WFP has ceased assistance, officials are witnessing an increase in young girls being sold into early marriage to enable their families to purchase food. Additionally, children are being withdrawn from schools to enter the workforce.
The psychological toll on Afghan women has also escalated.
Aylieff reported receiving an increasing number of distress calls from desperate women across the country, including some threatening suicide. He described the cumulative impact of the malnutrition crisis on Afghanistan's female population as "very harrowing."