An official from the aid organization Action Against Hunger warned that many Afghan children will die due to cuts in U.S. funding. This follows the cancellation of foreign aid contracts by the administration of former President Donald Trump, including those for Afghanistan, where more than half of the population relies on humanitarian aid to survive.
Action Against Hunger halted all U.S.-funded operations in March after the funding was cut. However, the organization continued critical services in Badakhshan province and Kabul using its own resources, but this support has now ended. The therapeutic feeding unit in Kabul is shutting down this week due to a lack of patients and the expiration of staff contracts, as a result of the funding loss.
Cobi Rietveld, the country director for Action Against Hunger, emphasized that without treatment for acute malnutrition, many children will die. “No child should die because of malnutrition. If we don’t fight hunger, people will die from hunger,” Rietveld said. He explained that children who need medical care are at a high risk of dying without it.
More than 3.5 million children in Afghanistan are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year, a 20% increase from 2024. Decades of war, poverty, and climate-related disasters have worsened the country’s humanitarian crisis. The U.S. had provided nearly half (43%) of the international humanitarian aid to Afghanistan last year.
Rietveld noted that other aid organizations are also facing funding shortages, which will result in more children dying from malnutrition. Many of the children who were treated at the feeding unit were too weak to walk or even crawl, often unable to eat due to extreme weakness. The services, including meals, were provided free of charge.
Dr. Abdul Hamid Salehi explained that Afghan families, facing severe poverty, could not afford to treat malnourished children at private clinics. People who had once relied on these services are still hoping for funding to resume, but until then, they are left in a desperate situation.
