Delivering for the children of Afghanistan
UNICEF has been on the ground for over 70 years. We pledge to stay.
Afghanistan is home to one of the most crushing humanitarian crises in the world. After decades of conflict, Afghans have been cut off from the global community, left to grapple with economic collapse, climate disasters and human rights violations not of their own making.
Every day, millions of children venture into the streets, fields and mines to labour under dangerous conditions. Girls have been denied schooling beyond Grade 6. Over a third are married off before their eighteenth birthday – many to help their families put food on the table. And families continue to flee villages by the thousands, in search of necessities like clean water and safe shelter.
As the effects of poverty compound, nearly two thirds of the population, including more than 15 million children, need urgent humanitarian assistance to protect themselves from hunger and disease.
UNICEF has been on the ground in Afghanistan for over 70 years. With offices nationwide and a range of partners that support us in reaching the most vulnerable children, we’ve scaled up our life-saving programmes.
UNICEF on the ground
The challenges facing humanitarian organizations in Afghanistan are many. The reasons to persist are more.
Millions of families struggle to receive the health care and nutrition their children need. With support from partners, UNICEF is preventing the collapse of the health system and treating children at risk of malnutrition. We’ve paid salaries and provided critical supplies for tens of thousands of health workers, while keeping the power on in health facilities. We’re also providing nearly all nutrition supplies for Afghanistan, ensuring communities receive multivitamin supplements, nutrition counselling and monitoring services.
In 2023, UNICEF has helped almost half of Afghanistan’s population receive life-saving health and nutrition support.
Keeping children healthy means keeping water running. That’s why UNICEF is now the lead provider of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services across Afghanistan. We bring solar-powered water pumps to villages, schools and health clinics – reaching communities stricken by drought and other disasters in one of the most climate-vulnerable countries on the planet.
It’s also one of the most oppressive countries for women and girls. UNICEF will never give up advocating for all girls to be in school and learning. Our community-based education programme responds to the demands of families by serving every child, regardless of gender, and by keeping women teachers in the classroom. And we won’t stop supporting public schools to make classrooms safe, conducive places for girls and boys to continue to learn.
Above all, this humanitarian crisis is a child rights crisis. Children across Afghanistan are being forced into hazardous labour, child marriage and dangerous border crossings – just to help parents put food on the table. That’s why UNICEF provides a first line of response for girls and boys in harm’s way. We meet children where they are, bringing child protection services to health clinics, classrooms and border crossings. Because if UNICEF isn’t there, no one is.
Our impact
UNICEF works day in and day out, in some of the hardest-to-reach areas, to serve more children in Afghanistan than any other organization. But we can’t do it alone. With thanks to our donors and partners, we commit to making a difference together.