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WFP says aid cuts to Afghanistan leave millions hungry this winter
The head of the World Food Programme in Afghanistan says the agency can only feed half the millions of Afghans in need after cuts in international aid and an impending freeze in U.S. foreign funding.
Many people were living on just “bread and tea”, WFP Country Director Hsiao-Wei Lee told Reuters.
Afghanistan was tipped to the brink of economic crisis in 2021 as the Islamic Emirate took over and all development and security assistance to the country was frozen, with restrictions also placed on the banking sector.
Since then humanitarian aid – aimed at funding urgent needs through non-profit organisations and bypassing government control – has filled some of the gap. But donors have been cutting steadily in recent years, concerned by IEA restrictions on women, including their order that Afghan female NGO employees stop work, and competing global crises.
Lee told Reuters shortly before finishing her three-year term in Afghanistan that funding cuts had meant that roughly half the 15 million Afghans in acute need of food were not receiving rations during this year’s harsh winter.
“That’s over 6 million people who are probably eating one or two meals a day and it’s just bread and tea,” she said in an interview on Saturday. “Unfortunately this is what the situation looks like for so many that have been removed from assistance.”
Afghanistan’s humanitarian plan was only just over half funded in 2024, according to U.N. data, and aid officials have flagged fears this could fall further this year.
The U.S. State Department issued a “stop-work” order on Friday for all existing foreign assistance and paused new aid, according to a cable reported by Reuters, after President Donald Trump ordered a pause to review if aid allocation was aligned with his foreign policy.
It was not immediately clear how that would impact Afghanistan’s humanitarian operations, which in 2024 were over 40% funded by the United States, the largest donor.
“I think any potential reduction in assistance for Afghanistan is of course concerning…whether it is assistance to WFP or another actor,” Lee said.
“The levels of need are just so high here in Afghanistan. I certainly hope that any decisions made, any implementation of decisions made take into consideration the needs of the people – the women, the children,” she said.
Western diplomats and humanitarian officials have said aid is dropping to Afghanistan in part due to global emergencies in Sudan, Ukraine and Gaza and also because of concerns with IEA restrictions on women.
Lee said the operating environment had been a “rollercoaster” in the last three years, but that WFP was trying to prove to donors concerned about the plethora of restrictions on women that they were still reaching female beneficiaries and their children with aid.
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High-level Uzbek delegation arrives in Kabul to boost bilateral trade
A high-level government–private sector delegation from Uzbekistan, led by Shukhrat Abdullazakov, Governor of Namangan Province, arrived in Kabul to enhance trade between the two countries and promote investment in Afghanistan.
According to a press release from the Ministry of Industry, the delegation, which includes deputy governors and more than 30 of Uzbekistan’s top businesspeople and investors, will meet with officials of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and participate in conferences and trade meetings.
The delegation will also travel to Balkh, meet with local officials, and hold business meetings with members of the private sector.
Additionally, the delegation will inaugurate an exhibition of Uzbek products and goods in Mazar-i-Sharif.
This visit follows the trip of Erkinjon Turdimov, Governor of Uzbekistan’s Syrdarya Province, and his accompanying delegation, and is based on meetings between Nuruddin Azizi, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Islamic Emirate, and senior Uzbek officials.
Other governors from Uzbekistan are also expected to visit Afghanistan to further expand bilateral trade and economic relations.
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Herat Chamber of Commerce donates 15 million AFN to the people of Iran
The Herat Chamber of Commerce and Investment announced on Saturday that national traders, jointly through the chamber, have provided approximately 15 million AFN in aid to the people of Iran.
The chamber stated that this aid package was delivered to the Iranian Consulate in Herat. It added that the assistance was intended to express solidarity with families affected by the war.
Mohammad Younes Qazizadeh, head of the Herat Chamber of Commerce and Investment, said: “Today we have presented 15 million AFN to the dear people of Iran through the Herat provincial authorities and the Iranian Consulate, and this aid will continue.”
Meanwhile, officials at the Iranian Consulate in Herat emphasized that Afghanistan and Iran always stand together and fully understand each other’s difficulties.
The Herat Chamber of Commerce and Investment also highlighted that the people of Iran have consistently supported the people of Afghanistan during various crises, and their cooperation in different sectors has reached families affected in the country.
Officials of the Herat Chamber of Commerce and Investment stressed that the process of private-sector humanitarian aid to the affected people of Iran will continue.
Following attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran, many people in the country have been affected and harmed.
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Severe floods in Badghis leave five dead
Local officials in Badghis have reported that heavy rainfall from midnight until Saturday morning claimed the lives of five people in the province.
According to officials, three people died in Qadis district, while two others, including a three-year-old child, lost their lives in Dara-e-Bum district.
The Badghis Department for Disaster Management stated that the floods not only caused fatalities but also inflicted significant financial losses on local residents and destroyed agricultural land.
However, complete information on the extent of damage and casualties is not yet available. Staff from various government departments have been dispatched to affected areas to conduct preliminary surveys.
Meanwhile, heavy rains and floods in western Afghanistan temporarily blocked the Herat–Kandahar Highway.
According to Mohammad Israil Sayar, head of the Disaster Management Department in Farah province, recent rainfall has caused the Farah River to swell significantly. He added that the situation has now returned to normal, and traffic along the highway has resumed.
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