Afghanistan remains engulfed in crisis. One of the clearest and most alarming signs of this worsening emergency is malnutrition – widespread, deadly, and still rising.
’Hold your baby like this,’ the midwife says.
She demonstrates with a doll how to position an infant for breastfeeding: tucked close to the mother’s side, neck supported in the palm of a hand. Inside the small, carpeted room, around 10 women sit lined up against cushions along the walls. Each cradles a small child. Their faces show exhaustion and determination.
Children fighting severe malnutrition
These children are being treated at a therapeutic feeding unit run by Action Against Hunger, with support from the European Union, in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan. Suffering from severe acute malnutrition with medical complications, they require round-the-clock care.
Dedicated health staff provide intensive treatment using specialised therapeutic nutritional products, alongside continuous medical interventions, all free of charge. During their stay, mothers – often malnourished themselves – receive daily meals, and nutrition counselling to improve feeding practices, including breastfeeding and hygiene, to support their children’s recovery and development. Once discharged, the children continue to receive support through follow up appointments and ready-to-use therapeutic food.
A crisis with many causes
Prolonged drought has destroyed crops and livelihoods across nearly half the country, while a weakened economy and extremely high unemployment have left families with little means to survive. Recent earthquakes have left thousands homeless and pushed humanitarian needs in Afghanistan to new extremes. According to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), more than 17 million Afghans faced acute food insecurity this winter – 3 million more than last year. Nearly 4 million children are malnourished, and about 1 million of them are severely malnourished, requiring medical treatment to survive.
