Afghanistan Appeal

Humanitarian needs in Afghanistan are intensifying amid climate shocks, economic decline and regional instability. Children are experiencing the worst effects of these crises. The political transition, compounded by recurrent floods, droughts, landslides and earthquakes, continues to strain fragile systems. Restrictions on women and girls, coupled with reduced funding, have deepened protection risks and eroded household resilience. The return of more than 2.2 million Afghans to the country in 2025 has overwhelmed local capacities, amplifying vulnerabilities. 

Protection risks remain severe as women of reproductive age, children, youth and marginalized groups face disproportionate threats, while restrictive policies continue to undermine rights and hinder Afghanistan’s social and economic recovery. Despite 6.8 million children enrolled in primary school, roughly half to one third of school-aged children remain out of school. Girls are excluded beyond Grade 6, leaving 2.2 million girls without access to secondary education. Chronic underfunding, lack of qualified teachers (especially in rural areas) and shrinking community-based education programmes have undermined quality. 

WASH needs are escalating. In 2025, 25 per cent of households relied on unimproved water sources, and 46 per cent of households cited access to safe drinking water as their top concern – a sharp increase from 31 per cent in 2024. Poor hygiene and limited water access continue to drive malnutrition and disease outbreaks. Afghanistan ranks fourth globally for wasting among children and is among the hardest-hit countries in the global food and nutrition crisis. The latest projections are stark: 3.7 million children under age 5 are wasted, nearly 1 million are severely wasted and at imminent risk of death, 700,000 face life-threatening moderate acute malnutrition, 2.7 million suffer early-stage wasting and 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are acutely malnourished, jeopardizing maternal and child survival and perpetuating a cycle of malnutrition. This is a generational emergency. 

Reduced funding closed 422 healthcare facilities in 2025, impacting 3 million people. Rising costs, medicine shortages and long travel times have left families, especially women in rural areas, without access to essential care. 

Climate-related shocks and environmental hazards are further eroding resilience across the country, pushing households towards negative coping strategies.

In line with the Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action, UNICEF will deliver integrated, life-saving assistance and maintain essential services for children through an agile, efficient and people-centred approach grounded in humanitarian principles, the realities of the operational environment, and shared responsibility, in line with the Humanitarian Reset. The response will connect emergency aid with basic human needs programmes to strengthen resilience and provide sustainable, inclusive support in protective, child-friendly environments. Core programming approaches will emphasize preparedness and anticipatory action, decentralization, advocacy, effective communication and efficient resource utilization. Integration across sectors will promote risk-informed, child-centred and gender-responsive programming, inclusive of children with disabilities, to achieve transformative, sustainable results for every child.

To address malnutrition and strengthen community resilience, UNICEF will leverage its multisectoral expertise, integrating health, WASH, social protection and social behaviour change programmes. Climate and the environment are key determinants of child well-being. UNICEF will expand climate-resilient technologies, promote solar-powered systems, and optimize water infrastructure to mitigate water scarcity, prevent disease outbreaks, and reduce child wasting. 

UNICEF will enhance access to safe and equitable health services for vulnerable children and families, including secondary care for newborns and children. This will be achieved through community engagement, outreach, restoration of local health systems and capacity-building for healthcare workers. Preventive and curative nutrition services will follow a life-cycle approach, ensuring multisectoral support for children and women. 

In education, UNICEF will continue to advocate for reopening secondary schools for girls, while supporting formal and non-formal learning, early childhood development and the reintegration of displaced and returnee children. These initiatives will strengthen institutions and promote early recovery. 

UNICEF will also respond to critical protection needs by providing mental health and psychosocial support, case management for unaccompanied and separated children and targeted programmes to prevent gender-based violence. Safeguarding measures will include training humanitarian staff and ensuring accessible reporting mechanisms for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse. 

To address sudden-onset disasters, UNICEF will enhance preparedness and activate cash-based Rapid Response Mechanisms. During winter months, it will scale up multipurpose cash assistance to help vulnerable households meet basic needs and prevent harmful coping strategies. Through expanded social protection programmes, UNICEF will help families withstand shocks, recover faster and stabilize livelihoods. With five zonal offices and eight outposts, UNICEF’s strong field presence, along with its cluster leadership, will enable delivery of effective, multisectoral, community-based programmes for Afghanistan’s most vulnerable populations. UNICEF will maintain its leadership within the reformed cluster system, including support to the Protection Cluster. UNICEF will continue to champion a lighter, more agile coordination model that protects, educates and sustains lives. At the same time, UNICEF will strengthen national capacity to coordinate humanitarian response at both national and subnational levels, ensuring an operations-focused system that fully integrates area-based coordination mechanisms.