Hunger and acute malnutrition in Afghanistan have reached their worst recorded levels, a global food security monitor said on Thursday, with conditions expected to deteriorate further as winter sets in.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) found that 15.9 million Afghans are facing acute food insecurity. More than 32 percent of the population is at crisis level or worse, including 3.4 million people in emergency conditions. Malnutrition for the August-October period was the highest ever recorded for that season.
The IPC blamed disease outbreaks, poor water and sanitation, and a sharp drop in access to nutrition services. Better rainfall and stronger harvests have improved food availability, it said, but shrinking humanitarian aid is eroding households’ ability to cope.
Between November and April, nearly 19.2 million people are projected to fall into crisis or worse, including 5 million in emergency conditions. Some 4.04 million children under five are expected to need malnutrition treatment between January and December 2027.
The World Food Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization urged donors to fund food assistance, emergency farming support and nutrition programs. “We still have a window to act, but it is closing fast,” said WFP country director John Aylieff.
FAO representative Richard Trenchard stressed that families also need dependable ways to earn a living so they can withstand future shocks.
Separately, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported a continued erosion of basic rights between July and September, with women and girls hit hardest by Taliban restrictions.
Girls remain barred from formal schooling beyond grade six. Asked about the ban, a Taliban spokesperson said it had to be considered from the perspective of Sharia law.
UNAMA documented more than 50 hijab-related cases, mostly in Herat and Kabul, including one in which a 13-year-old girl was held overnight. Women were also turned away from health clinics and markets if they lacked a male guardian, or mehram.
Virtue and vice inspectors were linked to at least 443 cases and 97 incidents of ill-treatment, over alleged offences such as hijab violations, trimmed beards, skipped prayers and listening to music.
Although the de facto Supreme Court stopped publicizing punishments online in April, UNAMA recorded public lashings of 22 men and six women on charges including theft and adultery. It also recorded the arrest of 14 former security force members, and at least four others were killed.
The mission also noted that several media outlets were suspended without explanation or a way to appeal, and that a journalist detained since July 2025 remains in custody without conviction. A police law published in August bans all demonstrations.
