OCHA, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, has warned that approximately 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women in Afghanistan will face malnutrition this year.
In a report released, the agency stated that the peak season for acute malnutrition begins in July and will last for at least three to four months.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has warned that without immediate expansion of preventive and life-saving nutritional interventions, the nutritional situation in Afghanistan will worsen in the remaining months of 2026.
The report notes that severe malnutrition has increased in 26 out of 34 provinces in Afghanistan compared to 2025.
OCHA emphasized that food insecurity, limited access to nutritional services, the prevalence of diseases, and water and sanitation issues are major factors exacerbating this crisis.
Additionally, the agency predicts that in 2026, around 3.7 million children in Afghanistan will suffer from severe malnutrition, which includes hundreds of thousands of cases of severe and moderate acute malnutrition at risk.
OCHA and its nutrition sector partners in Afghanistan state that the country is facing one of the largest nutritional crises in the region.
According to the latest assessments, the level of malnutrition in many provinces has reached a critical stage, raising concerns about the health of pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and young children.
