The head of the World Food Program in Afghanistan says that the agency can only feed half of the millions of Afghan needed after cuts in international aid and an imminent freezing in foreign funds in the United States.
Many people lived alone with “bread and tea,” said Country Director of the PMA Hsiao-Wei Lee Reuters.
Afghanistan was inclined to the edge of the economic crisis in 2021 when the Taliban took care and all the development and security assistance to the country froze, with restrictions also in the banking sector.
Since then, humanitarian aid, with the aim of financing urgent needs through non -profit organizations and without going through government control, has filled part of the gap.
But donors have been constantly reducing in recent years, concerned with the taliban restrictions on women, including their order that the employees of Afghan NGOs stop working and the global crises of the competition.
Lee told him Reuters Shortly before finishing their three -year term in Afghanistan, that fund cuts had meant that approximately half of the 15 million Afghan in need of food did not receive rations during the hard winter of this year.
“That is more than 6 million people who are probably eating one or two meals a day and they are just bread and tea,” he said in an interview on Saturday.
“Unfortunately, this is how the situation is seen for so many who have eliminated themselves from help.”
The Humanitarian Plan of Afghanistan was only more than medium funded in 2024, according to UN data, and help officials have marked fears that this could fall beyond this year.
The United States Department of State issued an order of “stop” on Friday for all existing foreign assistance and made a new help, according to a cable reported by ReutersAfter President Donald Trump ordered a break to review whether the assignment of aid was aligned with his foreign policy.
It was not clearly clear how that would affect the humanitarian operations of Afghanistan, which in 2024 were more than 40 percent financed by the United States, the largest donor.
“I think that any possible reduction in assistance for Afghanistan is, of course, worrying … either assistance to the PMA or another actor,” Lee said.
“The levels of need are so high here in Afghanistan. Certainly I hope decisions are made, any implementation of decisions taken into consideration the needs of people that women, children, ”he said.
Western humanitarian diplomats and officials have said that help is decreasing Afghanistan in part due to world emergencies in Sudan, Ukraine and Gaza, and also due to concerns with the taliban restrictions in women.
Last week, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced that he had requested arrest orders for two Taliban leaders, including the supreme spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundada, accusing them of the persecution of women and girls.
Lee said that the operational environment had been a “roller mountain” in the last three years, but that the PMA was trying to demonstrate donors concerned about the large number of restrictions on women who were still arriving at the beneficiaries and their children with help.
Although the Taliban have said that the workers of the Afghan NGOs must stop working, many humanitarian organizations have said that they have been granted exemptions, especially in areas such as health.
Lee said WFP had adapted and has been able to reach women despite official fund cuts and restrictions.
