NOURISHING AFGHANISTAN

About

• Afghanistan is facing one of the world’s most severe food and nutrition crises, with over 3.5 million children under five suffering from wasting and 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women experiencing acute malnutrition. The country ranks among the top globally for child food poverty, wasting and stunting. With only five years remaining to achieve the SDGs and global nutrition targets set by the World Health Assembly, UNICEF, together with WHO, WFP, FAO, and UNFPA, are joining forces  and calling for urgent, coordinated, and multisectoral action to accelerate nutrition progress in Afghanistan.
• This initiative builds on progress made—over 6.5 million children treated for wasting in the past three years—and aligns with global momentum following WHA78 and the Nutrition for Growth Summit in 2025. The UN calls for integrated action across health & nutrition, food systems, WASH, education, and social protection to prevent, detect, and treat all forms of malnutrition.
• Key priorities include supporting local production of nutritious foods, enhancing maternal and child nutrition services, making food systems sensitive to the nutritional needs of young children, expanding climate-resilient agriculture, strengthening nutrition supply chains, and scaling up social safety nets for vulnerable families.
• Now more than ever, flexible, multi-year donor support is urgently needed to sustain and scale lifesaving nutrition interventions. Strategic investments today will not only save lives but also build long-term resilience and stability for Afghanistan’s most vulnerable communities.
• This collective call to action demands immediate and sustained efforts to protect children’s survival, growth, and development against the ongoing nutrition crisis.

Author(s)

UNICEF, FAO, WFP, WHO, and UNFPA Afghanistan