UN Says Hunger in Afghanistan Forcing Families to Sell Girls Into Early Marriage

The United Nations warned that worsening hunger in Afghanistan is driving desperate coping measures, as unemployment, poverty and funding cuts deepen the humanitarian crisis.

The head of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Afghanistan warned that worsening malnutrition is pushing families into desperate measures, including selling young girls into early marriage to afford food.

John Ayliff, WFP’s country director for Afghanistan, said the deepening hunger crisis is having severe consequences for women and girls, adding that the situation has been largely overlooked by the international community.

He said UN estimates show that five million women and children are expected to suffer from malnutrition over the next 12 months, with nearly four million children requiring urgent treatment.

United Nations data show Afghanistan’s economy remains near collapse, with around 75% of the population unemployed and more than 90% living below the poverty line.

UN agencies said in a report released on Wednesday that poverty levels have deepened nationwide, while restrictions on girls’ education and women’s employment have further reduced household incomes.

Ayliff said funding cuts have forced nutrition clinics to shut down, warning that children with severe malnutrition will die if treatment is unavailable.

International aid groups have linked the crisis to earlier reports from western Afghanistan, including Herat, where families previously sold daughters into marriage as food shortages intensified.

The International Rescue Committee has also warned that reduced U.S. funding has cut humanitarian access in Afghanistan by nearly two-thirds, worsening hunger conditions.

Ayliff said WFP staff increasingly witness children pulled out of school and sent to work, calling it “shocking” when families are told aid agencies no longer have funds to help.

UN officials warn that without urgent funding and policy relief, Afghanistan’s hunger crisis will continue to drive irreversible social harm, with women and children bearing the heaviest cost.

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