Kabul: The toddler cries as an oxygen mask is fitted to his face, its green elastic band stretched across his sunken cheeks. When he was first hospitalised a month ago, the 2 ½-year-old was fighting for his life. Severely malnourished, Abu Bakar weighed just 6 kilograms (13 pounds), about half what he should. And yet, he is one of the lucky ones: His family got him to Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital in Kabul, where doctors are providing life-saving care.
But for every malnourished child receiving treatment, there are many more who cannot get help. “We have a catastrophic nutritional crisis on our hands with two-thirds of the country in a very serious or crisis level for acute malnutrition,” said John Aylieff, Afghanistan Country Director for the United Nations’ World Food Program. “This is the highest surge in malnutrition ever recorded in the country. And the lives of 4 million children are hanging in the balance.”
Devastated by four decades of conflict, Afghanistan has long relied on foreign aid. But the Taliban takeover in 2021 saw direct foreign aid halted almost overnight, driving millions into poverty and hunger. The situation is compounded by a moribund economy, a severe drought, two devastating earthquakes in late 2025 and the return of 5.3 million Afghans expelled mainly from neighboring Pakistan and Iran.
Now, funding cuts to humanitarian organizations, including the halting of U.S. aid to programs such as the WFP’s food distribution, have severed a lifeline for millions.