More than 17 million people in Afghanistan are projected to face acute food insecurity in 2026, according to the United Nations, as international funding shortfalls force aid agencies to suspend or scale back life-saving food and healthcare programmes. The crisis, already one of the world's most severe, is deepening at a time when the country's humanitarian infrastructure is critically underfunded.

Scale of the Crisis

The UN estimates that approximately 22 million Afghans require humanitarian assistance this year — encompassing food, healthcare, and protection services. Women, children, internally displaced persons, and returning refugees are among the hardest hit. The UN's 2026 Humanitarian Response Plan had received less than 20 per cent of its required funding by June 2026, compelling organisations to suspend or curtail food distributions and essential health services, including some classified as life-saving.

Returning Migrants Add Pressure

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the return of more than 5 million Afghan migrants from Pakistan and Iran has placed additional strain on communities already struggling to meet basic needs. Fereshta Abbasi, an Afghan researcher at HRW, said deteriorating economic conditions are driving many families into extreme hardship. Drawing on interviews conducted across Afghanistan, she described parents unable to provide enough food for their children and households increasingly relying on neighbours for basic meals.

Women and Girls Disproportionately Affected

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned in a report released on Tuesday that over 10.7 million women and girls will require humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan in 2026. Restrictions on women's movement, education, and employment continue to limit their access to essential services, while increasing protection risks and deepening existing vulnerabilities.

Afghanistan's maternal mortality rate remains among the world's highest, with an estimated 638 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births recorded in 2024, according to OCHA. Shortages of women health workers, funding reductions, limited access to essential medicines, and gaps in emergency obstetric care are contributing to preventable maternal and neonatal deaths — particularly in rural areas where healthcare access is already severely constrained.

Health Sector Under Severe Strain

The broader health sector is also under significant pressure. Funding cuts have triggered reductions in healthcare programmes across the country, compounding the impact of structural gaps in rural medical infrastructure. This comes amid a broader global trend of donor fatigue for protracted humanitarian crises, with Afghanistan competing for shrinking international aid budgets against multiple simultaneous emergencies worldwide.

What Happens Next

Humanitarian organisations are calling for urgent replenishment of the 2026 Response Plan to avert further deterioration. Without a substantial increase in international contributions, aid workers warn that food distributions and healthcare services will continue to contract through the second half of the year, pushing more families into crisis-level hunger and leaving the most vulnerable without recourse.