The Global Hunger Index has ranked Afghanistan 116th among 127 countries, which places it under the “serious” category of the analysis.

According to the latest report published on Friday, Afghanistan scored 30.8.

In 2023, Afghanistan scored 30.6 and ranked 114th in the index.

GHI scores are based on the values of four indicators such as the level of people's malnutrition, child stunting, wasting and mortality. The less a country scores in the GHI, the lower the rate of hunger in that country.

According to the GHI report, 30.4 percent of the population in Afghanistan are undernourished, 44.6 percent of children under five are stunted, 3.6 percent of children under five are wasted and 5.8 percent of children die before their fifth birthday.

Afghanistan will not participate in the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, which will take place in Islamabad on October 15 and 16, as it has not received an invitation from the bloc's secretariat.

Express News reported that the secretariat’s decision underscores Afghanistan's current status within the organization, as it is classified as an observer state rather than a full member.

Diplomatic sources indicate that Afghanistan's membership in the SCO has been inactive since September 2021. The country became an SCO observer on June 7, 2012, but has not engaged actively since its membership was rendered, Express News reported.

Pakistan, the host country for the summit, is expected to welcome leaders from various nations and around 200 delegations.

The SCO remains focused on fostering regional cooperation and security, with significant participation anticipated at the upcoming meeting.

Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iran's special representative for Afghanistan, said this weekend that one of the key points of discussion at the 6th Moscow Format meeting held Friday was on how to prevent the flood of migration from Afghanistan.

He said neighboring countries also discussed ways to help Afghanistan deal with terrorism and how to create necessary conditions for the reconstruction of the country, in the form of a regional initiative.

In an interview with IRNA news agency, Qomi said in a conversation with IRNA news agency that ten countries participated at the meeting along with Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. 

Qomi said: "Despite the current developments in the international arena, especially in Palestine and Lebanon, the issue of Afghanistan is still considered one of the important regional priorities."

He also emphasized that using the capacities of neighboring countries and regional cooperation can help the Islamic Emirate and the people of Afghanistan to overcome their problems.

Special representatives and high-ranking officials from China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan took part.