MONITORING (SW) – Afghanistan is on the brink of as “a humanitarian catastrophe” as the effects of an imploding economy are being felt across society.
Afghanistan was facing a convergence of crises even before the Taliban took power in August. A severe drought was withering crops, the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic had increased poverty and the country’s long-running conflict had left over 3 million Afghans internally displaced.
Now, Afghanistan is on the brink of what the UN Special Representative Deborah Lyons has described as “a humanitarian catastrophe”. The effects of an imploding economy are being felt across society, but those already forced from their homes by the conflict are particularly vulnerable.
According to UNICEF, around 3.2 million Afghan children under five are acutely malnourished and 1.1 million are at risk of dying from severe, acute malnutrition without treatment.