The United States of America Boosts WFP’s Lifesaving Activities in Afghanistan With $280 Million

KABUL – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Afghanistan welcomes a contribution of $280 million from the United States of America through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). This funding will allow the U.N. World Food Programme to support more than 3 million people with lifesaving food assistance and treat more than 900,000 malnourished children and women. Further, the funding will help the U.N. World Food Programme keep the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) operational.

“Large-scale humanitarian assistance over the past two years has helped pull back millions of Afghans from the brink of starvation and we are now seeing an improvement of the overall food security situation,“ said Hsiao-Wei Lee, country director of U.N. World Food Programme Afghanistan. “However, these improvements remain fragile and could reverse if assistance does not continue for the most vulnerable communities. We are grateful to USAID’s continued, steadfast support to the U.N. World Food Programme and the Afghan people.”

With this contribution, the U.N. World Food Programme will support more than 3 million people experiencing crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity for up to eight months with either food or cash to buy food on local markets, helping them get through the most difficult months of the year.

The funding will further allow the U.N. World Food Programme to treat more than half a million malnourished children under 5 and nearly 380,000 malnourished pregnant and breastfeeding mothers in health clinics across the country with specialized nutritious food. Malnutrition rates remain worrisome in many parts of the country, including in the capital Kabul, where the number of children admitted to health centers almost tripled last year compared to the previous year.

“Many of the women bringing their children to the clinic are from poor families who cannot provide their children with a proper diet or care and the children become malnourished,” said Zainab, a nutrition staff at a U.N. World Food Programme-supported clinic in Kabul. “The specialized nutritious food we provide helps the children recover and gain weight, usually within two months –but we also teach them how to feed and take care of the children so that they don’t fall ill again.”

The funding will also help aid workers to continue reaching communities in need across the country and in remote areas safely and reliably through UNHAS. Last year, UNHAS transported nearly 23,000 passengers from more than 100 organizations between 21 domestic and 4 international destinations.

In 2023, the U.N. World Food Programme reached 18.6 million people across all its programs in Afghanistan, 9.4 million of whom were women and girls. The U.N. World Food Programme distributed over 1.3 million pounds of food and disbursed $190 million in cash or vouchers to help families cover their food needs.

The U.N. World Food Programme in Afghanistan received the first tranche of the contribution, amounting to $150 million, in March 2024 while the second tranche of $130 million is received in August 2024. This latest funding of $280 million from the United States of America follows contributions of more than $1 billion over the past three years. This sustained commitment solidifies the USA’s position as the largest donor for the U.N. World Food Programme in Afghanistan.

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The United Nations World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and the world’s leading humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

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