The U.N. World Food Program said it needs $800M to help prevent famine in Afghanistan over the next six months.
Years of drought and mismanagement by the Taliban government have brought Afghanistan to the brink of famine.
- The World Food Program said hundreds of thousands of Afghans may need assistance over the next six months.
- The agency has $249M in funding for its Afghan operations in 2023, a third of what it had last year.
- Afghanistan
is dealing with its third consecutive year of "drought-like
conditions," in addition to an economic crisis caused by mismanagement,
lack of foreign aid, and economic sanctions.
- According to the International Rescue Committee, 28.3 million Afghans are in need of humanitarian aid, and 18.9 million people face crisis-level food insecurity.
- In December, the Taliban banned women from working at national and international nongovernmental groups.
- The Taliban later extended the ban by barring women from working at U.N. agencies.
