EU humanitarian aid supports food insecure families in Afghanistan and helps keep humanitarian air service in the sky

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Afghanistan welcomes a humanitarian aid contribution of over US$21.6 million from the European Union. This contribution will help WFP reach a planned 21 million vulnerable, food-insecure people across the country. A portion of the contribution will further be allocated to the operation of the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS).

“The European Union’s priority in Afghanistan is life-saving assistance at times when hunger haunts millions of people across the country”, said François Goemans, who oversees EU humanitarian aid operations in Afghanistan, “Severe drought conditions and the economic crisis push families both in rural areas and in cities to the brink. Food assistance is often the only lifeline for some of the most vulnerable and food-insecure families, including widows and women-led households.”

Over 15 million people across Afghanistan do not know where their next meal will come from and nearly 3 million of them are experiencing emergency levels of hunger. In 2022, WFP supported 23 million people – 12 million of whom were women and girls. This past winter, the majority of the food needs of one in four Afghans were covered by WFP assistance.

“Record levels of food assistance have pulled three million people back from the brink and contributed to an improvement of the overall food security”, said Harald Mannhart, Deputy Country Director of WFP Afghanistan. “But we are at risk of losing gains made. A severe funding crisis is upon us, and we had to drop eight million people from emergency assistance earlier this year.”

WFP will use the contribution from the European Union to support a planned 21 million people across the country through in to meet their food and nutrition needs.

As part of WFP’s emergency programming, WFP will also provide specialized nutritious foods to prevent malnutrition in young children and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers of families supported with food.

The contribution will also help keep UNHAS in the sky, which plays a pivotal role in transporting aid workers within the country and on an international airbridge to and from Afghanistan, as safe commercial options are not available.