U.N. Warns 1 Million Afghan Children Could Starve by Winter

Photo: AFP via Getty Images With the poverty rate already above 70 percent in Afghanistan, United Nations officials fear that the humanitarian crisis caused by almost 40 years of war and occupation could lead to widespread malnutrition and starvation in the coming months. According to United Nations Development Programme estimates, as many as one million children are at risk of starving before the winter arrives, while the poverty rate could be as high as 98 percent by next year.

“After decades of war, suffering, and insecurity, they face perhaps their most perilous hour,” U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said at a conference in Geneva held to address the crisis. Henrietta Fore, the executive director of UNICEF, added that “at least one million children will suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year and could die without treatment.”

Prior to Taliban takeover of the country last month, Afghanistan was already managing a food crisis because of a drought which killed off 40 percent of the year’s crops and caused the price of staples like wheat to spike 25 percent. Fighting during the Taliban’s successful offensive overrunning the Afghan Army also prevented many farmers from planting this past season.

U.N. officials stated during the conference that $606 million in emergency funding in humanitarian aid would be required to stave off the most disastrous impacts of the nation’s food insecurity. On Monday, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield pledged $64 million in new funding for the cause. In total, over $1 billion in pledges were made at the conference. U.N.

It remains unclear what role sanctions will play in the relationship between the Taliban and the United States and international economic system. Already, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have stopped payments going to Afghanistan, while the Biden administration froze almost $10 billion in reserves. At a U.N. Security Council meeting last Thursday, deputy ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis said that “any legitimacy and support will have to be earned.

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