Half of Afghanistan Needed Aid in 2025. Now, Severe Cuts
For nearly 10 hours a day, Rahimullah pushes his cart through eastern Kabul selling socks, earning between $4.50 and $6 daily. The income is meager, but it is the only way he can try to support his family of five.
Like many Afghans, Rahimullah uses only one name. He is among millions across the country who depend on humanitarian assistance from Afghan authorities and international aid organizations to survive. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, an estimated 22.9 million people—almost half of Afghanistan’s population—required humanitarian aid in 2025.
That support, however, is rapidly shrinking. Deep cuts to international assistance, including the suspension of U.S. funding for programs such as food distribution run by the UN World Food Program, have severed a critical lifeline, the Associated Press reported.
The WFP warned last week that more than 17 million Afghans are now facing crisis-level hunger this winter—an increase of 3 million people compared to just over a year ago. These cuts come as Afghanistan continues to struggle with a weak economy, recurring droughts, two devastating earthquakes, and the return of large numbers of refugees expelled from neighboring countries such as Iran and Pakistan. Together, these pressures have strained already limited resources, particularly housing and food supplies.
UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher told the Security Council earlier this month that the crisis is being worsened by “overlapping shocks,” including natural disasters and growing restrictions on humanitarian access and staffing.
Fletcher said nearly 22 million Afghans are expected to need UN assistance in 2026, but reduced donor funding means the organization will focus on just 3.9 million people facing the most urgent, life-threatening needs. He described this winter as “the first in years with almost no international food distribution.” Aid agencies have been forced to cut thousands of jobs and reduce operations as funding declines.
The return of millions of refugees has further strained the fragile system. Minister of Refugees and Repatriation Affairs Abdul Kabir said Sunday that 7.1 million Afghan refugees have returned over the past four years.
Rahimullah, now 29, is one of them. A former Afghan army soldier, he fled to Pakistan after the Taliban took power in 2021. He was deported back to Afghanistan two years later and initially received cash and food assistance. “The assistance was helping me a lot,” he said. Without it, he added, “now I don’t have enough money to live on.”
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