UN warns that Afghanistan is on the brink of humanitarian catastrophe
They rate the food insecurity situation as the most acute ever recorded by the United Nations in Afghanistan.
Photo: Shah Marai / AFP / Getty Images
Droughts, clashes and Covid-19 unleashed a deep economic crisis affecting more than half of the Afghan population, causing the worst level of famine ever seen in the region.
According to a new UN report on the Integrated Classification of Food Safety in Phases (CIF), jointly carried out by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Program (WFP) ), reveals that The lives, livelihoods and access to food of 22.8 million people in Afghanistan will be severely affected.
“It is urgent that we act efficiently and effectively to accelerate and expand our delivery to Afghanistan before winter leaves a large part of the country without supply, with millions of people, including women, young children and the elderly, starving in the freezing winter “said FAO Director General QU Dongyu. “It is a matter of life and death.”
According to the analysis, One in two Afghans will face phase 3 (crisis) or phase 4 (emergency) levels of food insecurity from November to the March lean season, which requires an urgent international response to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe.
“We cannot wait and see humanitarian catastrophes happen before our eyes, it is unacceptable,” he added.
This is the largest number of people in sAcute food insecurity situation ever recorded by the United Nations, since these reports began in Afghanistan 10 years ago.
“Hunger is increasing and children are dying,” said Food Program Executive Director David Beasley. “We cannot feed people promises: funding commitments must be turned into cash, and the international community must come together to tackle this crisis, which is rapidly spiraling out of control.“.
The report reveals a 37% increase in the number of Afghans suffering from acute hunger since their last assessment in April. Those at risk include 3.2 million children under the age of five, who are feared to suffer from acute malnutrition by the end of the year.
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