Afghanistan at risk of becoming a ‘Forgotten Crisis,’ warn aid agencies

Heavily dependent on humanitarian aid, Afghans are trapped in cycles of poverty, displacement, and despair. Without international support, Afghanistan risks becoming a forgotten crisis, according to a statement from 10 aid organizations released on Tuesday.

The aid organizations emphasized the urgent need for long-term development assistance to address the root causes of poverty in Afghanistan.

Signatories warned that diminishing humanitarian funding is severely impacting daily life, with reduced funding for medium and longer-term programs exacerbating existing vulnerabilities and increasing the humanitarian burden.

Action Against Hunger (ACF), CARE International, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), and other agencies highlighted the dire situation, noting that 343 mobile health teams have shut down this year, which is 52% of the total.

The closure of these health teams has significantly affected the health and nutrition response, leaving populations unable to access essential lifesaving services.

The statement emphasized that the ongoing crisis cannot be managed with humanitarian aid alone and requires a comprehensive, sustained, and contextualized response from the international community.

Diplomatic engagement is crucial for creating an environment in Afghanistan that supports scaling up international aid efforts to include both development projects and emergency assistance.

This comes amid suppressive policies by the Taliban, which exacerbate the current crisis in the country and the group’s unwillingness to adhere to international law.

The current isolationist stance of many donor countries is not conducive to finding durable solutions to the challenges faced by Afghanistan, particularly for children, women, and marginalized groups.

Despite improvements in security, Afghanistan continues to face severe issues, including an economic crisis, the legacy of conflict, climate change impacts, and gender crises.

Humanitarian actors in Afghanistan argue that inaction from the international community is causing significant suffering for the most vulnerable populations, particularly women and girls.

To prevent deeper poverty and isolation, donors must support the return of development and long-term funding to build resilient communities. They also urged donor governments to reassure financial service providers to facilitate transactions in Afghanistan and ease current funding transfer impediments.