Afghanistan Faces Sharp Rise in Child Malnutrition, Needs $539 Million for Aid: WFP

Afghanistan is witnessing its sharpest-ever surge of child malnutrition, the World Food Program has said adding the country requires 539 million dollars to help the most vulnerable families. A quarter of Afghanistan’s population, almost 10 million people, face acute food insecurity where one in three children is affected.   The WFP said the rise in child malnutrition was linked to a drop in emergency food assistance over the past two years because of dwindling donor support. The US which had been  the largest funder of the WFP providing 4.5 billion dollars of the 9.8 billion dollars in donations, had cut off food aid to Afghanistan in April. Food insecurity in Afghanistan is being worsened by mass returns from neighboring countries, which are deporting foreigners they say are living there illegally. The WFP further said it has supported 60,000 Afghans returning from Iran in the last two months, a fraction of those crossing the border.