Afghanistan faces a deepening humanitarian catastrophe as acute malnutrition now affects 3.7 million children under five, a 14 percent surge over the past four years, according to Save the Children. The crisis has worsened in two-thirds of provinces in the second quarter of 2026 compared with a year earlier.
Marking five years since the Taliban retook power, Caritas International and the aid group Help both warned that nearly half the population needs humanitarian assistance, with unemployment and a fifth consecutive year of drought driving deeper poverty. Veronica Staudecker of Caritas said conditions show no sign of improvement.
Funding shortfalls are compounding the emergency. Humanitarian aid has fallen nearly 70 percent since 2022, leaving a 74 percent gap this year. About 600 health facilities have closed, cutting off care for roughly 4 million people, while the population has grown 12 percent since 2023 as millions of Afghans were returned from Pakistan and Iran.